


The Heart Of Noxus

by BridgeGoblin



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Foreplay, Giant Spiders, Sex, Slight Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Spiders, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:47:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 44,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23720323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgeGoblin/pseuds/BridgeGoblin
Summary: “No one can cage you for simply existing. Once you’ve proven your worth, anyone can be anything in Noxus. Because in Noxus, everyone is free.”Eryn wants to argue back, say that they’re free in Demacia. But she remembers how her fear of the mageseekers taking her away has haunted her dreams, even through adulthood. How she had to hide away never to leave her hometown for fear of being caught.She wonders what that must be like. To feel free.Eryn Mooreheart is a mage. In Demacia. A kingdom that imprisons mages for simply existing. After trying to live a simple farm life unnoticed from Demacia she's drafted into the army and forced to fight for her life. And when her brother has a brilliant (stupid) plan to make them into war heroes, she can't help but wonder if Demacian ideals are really the ones worth fighting for.
Relationships: Darius/Original Character(s), Darius/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 50
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing about an OC. Thought process was kinda like "If I could make a support-character for the Noxus faction what would it look like thematically" and then this fic was born haha. Might not be ENTIRELY canon compliant, I did a lot of lore reading but man is there a lot so if I get timeline stuff wrong, sorry haha. 
> 
> Tags might be updated as I go but I'll put in the notes if I do add something.

The formerly blue skies of the Demacian countryside have turned grey, not from storms but from the ashen clouds produced by Noxian Warmachines. The moors of Demacia once sang the songs of nature and peace, but that is now drowned out by the cacophony produced by metal clashing with metal, sword with sword, and the war cries of soldiers both Demacian and Noxian. 

Fort Ironwood is the fort that stands between Noxus and Demacia’s borders. If it falls then Noxus will have a much easier time spilling into Demacia. Which is how Eryn Mooreheart found herself enlisted into the army. A young brunette woman with freckled skin and bright brown eyes. Her skin was tanned and her form was muscular and tall from the years of working the farms, but even she looked small compared to her younger brother Claudius, who had enlisted at fort Ironwood a few years ago and rose to the rank of Sergeant. 

Even though Eryn had preferred to remain an unnoticed farmhand for the rest of her life, when the Noxian War Banners were raised at the Gates of Mourning just over the rocky steppes, the acting General of Ironwood enlisted every able bodied Demacian in reach. Demacia’s standing military had been called to the capital to deal with the mage rebellion. Noxus smelled blood in the water and like sharks they were here to feast.

Eryn pushes back the terror mounting in her chest and swings her sword at a Noxian footsoldier before her. She runs the blade through his chest and he cries out in anguish, and Eryn has to fight back nausea as she realizes she’s killed a man. 

She jumps as a gentle hand touches her back and she looks up to see her brother Claudius standing over her, smiling cockily. “I have a plan!” He shouts over the sounds of war around them. He lifts his warhammer and points it past the fighting of the infantry towards a distant war machine. “Our trebuchets can’t penetrate the Noxian machinery!” He declares just as a boulder hurled from a trebuchet crumbles upon hitting the steel casing around the machine. “And if those reach the gates the fort will fall! We need to take them out!” He looks down at her expectantly.

“If a trebuchet can’t penetrate it how will we-” She begins to argue with him and he cuts her off.

“Eryn we don’t have time to play dumb! Do your thing!”

Eryn feels more fear rise in her chest than the sight of a thousand war machines could ever induce. “P-people will see me Claudius, I-I can’t risk that!” 

“Would you not risk your freedom to save the lives of countless Demacians?” His eyebrows are raised, looking at her with disappointment. “With or without you, I’m heading to those machines. And I can only succeed _with_ you sister!” He lifts his warhammer and charges forward.

Panic rises in Eryn’s chest as she weighs her options, before swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat and races after her brother. She leaves her sword and shield behind before ripping off her gauntlets. She concentrates and green light flickers around her finger tips. She pushes past the warring foot soldiers, ignoring the confused looks from her own countryman.

In front of her, Claudius’s charge has been halted by a hulking Noxian juggernaut clad in steel armor. He’s about to bring a morningstar crashing down into Claudius’s shield. Eryn flicks her wrist, almost like tossing a disk, and the green light leaps from her hands to surround Claudius’s body. The light pulses around him and Claudius blocks the morningstar like it was just a light slap, and then throws his warhammer into the juggernaut’s chest. The iron armor shatters like it was made of glass and the Noxian is sent flying like a ragdoll. 

Sweat is pooling down Eryn’s forehead and her legs feel like they’re made of jelly but she continues to race forward to meet up with her brother. The green light that had surrounded Claudius dispersed after the hit. “Good timing sis! Was worried you were going to leave me to die for a second!” 

“I would never.” She says between ragged breaths. “Now let’s hurry with your ridiculous plan before I run out of steam.” 

He nods with his signature cocky smile and takes off running again, knocking Noxian soldiers out of his way with ease. Eryn follows closely as he cuts a path straight towards the first warmachine. 

The machine is unsurprisingly unguarded. The Noxians had so much confidence in their machine’s defense they never thought of wasting manpower guarding the machine when they could be slaughtering Demacian foot soldiers. It towers over the two siblings. The might of the machine was daunting as it’s wheels turn and turn urging it forward. No single man has taken out one of these before. And even Eryn was wondering if her powers would be enough.

The green magic flickers between her finger tips before enveloping her entire hands. She reaches out to her brother and takes hold of his hand. The light washes over him now, leaving from her hands to his. She holds for a moment before staggering backwards. The magic this time looks less like a soft glow and more like green flames, and Eryn could feel the magic emanating off her brother even as she steps away from him. Hopefully it’s enough.

When Eryn let’s go of him, Claudius leaps forward and brings the warhammer down onto the side of the warmachine. The hammer rips through the outer steel like wet paper, crunching through the steel shell and into the machinery beneath. Sparks fly and the machine skids to a halt. Claudius brings the hammer down once more and this time the hammer hits something much more vital. Claudius doesn’t have time to react before the machine before him lights up and blasts him backwards in a fiery explosion. 

He’s flung backwards and rolls across the field towards Eryn. She reaches down to check if he’s okay, but he’s on his feat quickly. There are burns across his face but they pulsate with the green magic before closing up, completely healed. The magic energy around him has dimmed, but is still present. “One down.” He says grinning at Eryn, and then looks off across the field. “One to go.”

Eryn is struggling to stand now and her stomach churns, feeling nauseous. She doesn’t have much strength left to give. “Claudius I don’t…” She doesn’t have time to protest. Beyond the wreckage of the warmachine a figure is approaching. A Noxian.

He has dark hair with a wisp of silver, a strong jaw, and a scar running down his face. He’s holding a large axe and rests it on his shoulder as he approaches. His armor has spiked shoulder pads and beneath them a red cloak billows in the wind. His eyes scan the wreckage of the warmachine before turning to the Demacians standing among said wreckage. Clearly the culprits of the attack.

“Impressive maneuver.” He comments, his voice is gruff. “I’ve seen much in my time serving for Noxus, but two Demacian foot soldiers taking down one of our best warmachines, now that is new.” He seems relaxed, almost casual about this whole affair. “It’s too bad it will be for nothing. We only need one machine to rip down your forts’ defenses, and to get to the remaining one you’ll have to go through me.”

“You see what I can do to you machines, now imagine that but to your face!” Claudius cockily taunts pointing his warhammer at the Noxian. 

The Noxian laughs which causes Claudius to scowl. Eryn grabs his arm to get his attention. “I don’t have much energy left. Maybe only one more buffing spell. Take him out and then we need to _go._ ”

Claudius launches himself towards the Noxian. The Noxian barely dodges out of the way as Claudius’s hammer collides with the earth where the Noxian had been standing just moments before, leaving a small crater on impact. “You have much destructive might, it’s a shame it’s wasted in Demacia.” The Noxian taunts once more. Claudius’s scowl deepens as he swings again, missing wildly. Eryn swears under her breath, both of their lives resting on if Claudius could control his wounded pride. 

Claudius lunges forward, managing to collide his hammer with the Noxian’s pauldron. He staggers backwards, but is otherwise not too bothered by the hit. The green aura that had once engulfed Claudius is gone now.

Eryn swears again, the idiot used all of his strength in the wild swings. And with all the footwork and dodging done by the two, the Noxian now stood in between them. She wouldn’t be able to cast a buffing spell without risking hitting the wrong person.

The Noxian swings his great axe at Claudius who steps backwards, the axe grazes his face leaving a shallow cut. The Noxian is relentless and swings again before Claudius can recover, landing it into his side and Eryn could hear the crunch of Claudius’s bones. 

Panic rises in Eryn’s chest once again as she watches her brother stagger backwards. Green energy swirls around Eryn’s hands but her body feels frozen, unsure of what she could do to save her brother from here. 

_I could try… I haven’t tried that since I was a teen and it nearly killed me…_ Fear and doubts swirl in her head, unsure of her own power.

The Noxian is raising his axe above his head, and Eryn doesn’t think anymore and her legs carry her forward. Her arms wrap around the Noxian’s torso, attempting to grapple a man twice her size. She can feel his shock as he tries to turn his body to see _who_ was grabbing him. He’s trying to shake her off but Eryn holds on determined as she presses her hands onto his chest. 

Time then seems still to Eryn as she sends a pulse of her magic into his chest. The Noxian stills beneath her arms and he slowly crumples to ground, falling unconscious. Eryn can feel her body shaking, completely drained of strength, and she falls to the ground as well and lets the darkness wash over her.


	2. Chapter 2

Eryn wakes up to the sounds of a quiet forest morning. Chirping birds, a gentle breeze, and the smell of morning dew flood her senses. She feels peace for a brief moment, before the memories of war start flooding back.

She sits up startled and looks around. She’s lying on a small blanket and her armor has been stripped leaving her in the tunic and pants she wore underneath. She’s in a small forest grove with a babbling stream not too far. She recognizes this place as her and her brother’s secret hiding place beyond the fort. When they had felt adventurous as children they’d sneak through the fort beyond its walls to play in the fields and forests between Noxus and Demacia. They had found this quiet grove seemingly unfound by both nations and would camp here sometimes for days. They’d stash camping supplies in the trees and come back every few months.

“You’re awake! Finally!” She looks up and her brother is standing over her, he’s hunched over holding his side with one hand and a waterskin with the other. He hands the waterskin to her which she takes and drinks from, not realizing how parched she was until that moment.

“What happened after…” She asks once she finishes drinking from the waterskin. He sits down with a groan. “You’re hurt.” She holds her hands to his chest and lets her magic flow over him. It’s much weaker than it was in the battle, she still feels drained. Very quickly she feels the exhaustion wash over her and she has to stop. 

“Don’t worry I’m fine. Just some broken shit. That made me feel a bit better though but don’t knock yourself out again. I don’t want to be the only one awake when _he_ wakes up.” He nods across the grove and there Eryn notices the Noxian from earlier is propped up against a tree, his arms tied to it with rope. His eyes are closed and he’s breathing peacefully asleep.

“What happened?” Eryn asks her voice firmer, it’s a demand now. 

“You did… I dunno.... something to him and it knocked you both out. But without you the second war machine was able to breach the gates and the Noxians rushed into the fort. I grabbed you and him and ran into the woods. I knew the grove would be untouched at least for now.”

“Why take him?”

“At least now we have a prisoner. We have a bargaining chip if the Noxians find us. But if we get to Demacia somehow then maybe we can be war heroes for capturing a famous Noxian soldier!” 

“That only works if he’s somebody important. If he’s just some footsoldier like us he’s deadweight.”

“Does he look like a nobody to you?” 

Eryn glances over at the Noxian. He’s been stripped of his hulking armor as well and down to his tunic and pants. He looks much more human than the day before, when his armor and stance made him seem monstrous and towering. Right now he looks like them, a human. Not a Noxian or a Demacian, just some dude taking a nap beside a tree.

Eryn shakes her head. “I hope you’re right.” 

Claudius stands up again. “I’m going to go search for food.” He’s not as hunched over as before, meaning the little bit of healing did do something.

“Are you well enough to hunt?” She asks.

“Probably not but I’m well enough to look for nuts and berries. Watch our prisoner, I’ll be back soon.” And with that she was alone with the Noxian.

It’s not long after Claudius leaves that the Noxian begins to stir. His eyes fling open and he immediately struggles against his bonds. His brow furrows with annoyance. He looks around the clearing before eyes landing on Eryn.

“What did you _do_ to me?” His question sounds more like a demand, like he was used to asking questions and immediately receiving the answers from underlings.

She approaches him annoyed at his tone but doesn’t say anything. She holds the waterskin up to his face and he flinches backwards. She rolls her eyes. “It’s not poisoned.”

“Then what did you do that makes me feel like I am?” He demands again. 

Eryn thinks for a moment, unsure how much she should divulge to the Noxian. And it’s not like she really fully understands her magic herself. “I can assure you it’s not poison. You’re better use to us alive. You’ll start to feel better if you hydrate, and my brother will be back with food as well which will help. Your strength will return over time.” He doesn’t seem satisfied with the answer, but when Eryn holds up the waterskin again he does drink from it.

Eryn crosses sits directly in front of the Noxian when he finishes drinking from the waterskin and crosses her legs. “Now it seems we are going to be stuck together for the foreseeable future. Let’s get to know each other a bit. What is your name?” She pauses and then tacks on another question. “Oh, and rank. Name and rank?”

He’s silent and glaring at her. “Okay, how about just name then? I don’t enjoy just referring to you as Noxian.” Still no response. She sighs in frustration and pinches her brow. “You’re not very conversational…” She mutters to herself. “Alright how about this. An information trade. I answer your questions honestly and you answer mine. No one is getting more leverage over the other. Fair trade?”

He eyes her suspiciously and lets them sit in silence for a few minutes. Eryn is beginning to think he won’t take the offer before he finally breaks the silence. “Your name and rank.”

“Eryn Mooreheart. Private.” 

“Mooreheart…” He repeats letting the name roll off his tongue. Eryn feels a slight chill roll down her back. When he’s not sounding like he’s barking orders the gruffness of his voice has a lot of charm. “Sounds like a noble’s name.”

“And _that_ sounds like a second question! When it is my turn now. What is your name and rank or will I have to give you a name myself?”

“I’d like to hear what you’d come up with, Private Mooreheart.”

She laughs, “I supposed I’d dub thee… Royce Darkclaw that sounds like a proper Noxian name. And you look like you could be… a captain. Captain Darkclaw!” 

He laughs loudly. “I know not a single Noxian with Darkclaw as a surname. That’s a very Demacian take on Noxus.”

“Okay well I’m calling you that until you tell me your name.”

His laughter dies out before he clears his throat. He meets her gaze and his face has a much more stern expression now. Jokes are over. “My name is Darius. The Hand of Noxus.” 

Eryn feels her blood run cold. They haven’t captured just _any_ Noxian soldier. They captured the highest ranking one there was. A member of the Trifarix Council, the embodiment of Noxian Might. The man in charge of all of Noxus’s military forces, was sitting tied to a tree right in front of her.


	3. Chapter 3

Darius watches the Demacian's smile falter and her eyes widen. He wonders if it's fear or just disbelief. 

His captor may be an adult but she's naive. She was quick to fall into a conversational atmosphere with him. At first he thought it was a ploy to try to lull him into a false sense of security, but now he sees she's just beaming with kindness. Typical Demacians. When they aren't babbling on about justice they're babbling on about friendship, all the while they oppress their poor and their outcasts. Hypocrites and weaklings the lot of them.

He shifts his sitting position and groans at how much effort it takes to just sit up a bit more. His muscles and bones feel like they're made of molasses and he still has a pounding headache. He sees the Demacian's eyebrows furrow with worry as she watches him struggle to get comfortable.

"I believe it is my turn now." Darius says breathing deeply as he leans back against the tree. "What is it that you did to me exactly?" 

He watches Eryn hesitate. She looks at the ground with a furrowed brow. Darius could almost see the cogs in her head turning as she debates an answer. He wonders if he should have thrown her a softball question first to lighten the mood more before digging for information. Gain her trust more. 

"It's hard to explain since I don't fully understand it myself…" She begins without looking up at him. "I have power over people's energy. Their life force, their strength, whatever you want to call it. I can coax it to heal wounds faster, or I can enhance it to make someone incredibly strong…" Images of the destroyed war machine and the two Demacians standing in its wreckage flash through his mind. "I can also drain their strength. Make them as weak as a newborn, or so exhausted they just fall asleep." She finishes her explanation still avoiding eye contact with him. 

She's a mage, and a powerful one. A rarity in Demacia, most mages don't get to see the freedom of the outside world. And the ones who do are members of powerful noble families who have essentially _bought_ their freedom. Not the type of person to end up a low ranking army recruit. 

"Mages in Demacia typically keep their identity secret, yet you open up not only to a complete stranger, but your enemy." Darius notes watching her reaction.

"I have no doubt you would have pieced it together on your own. We will be together for a decent amount of time and the effects of my magic are noticeable to the viewer," She's speaking slowly now, taking time to carefully pick her words. "And I'm _sure_ you've seen all types of magic in your _many_ battles." She smiles sweetly, but it seems forced. Not the smile she held just a few moments before when laughing at her own bad jokes.

Darius smirks back. She’s learning the game quickly. Conversations between enemies do not end in friendship. This is a time to goad one another into divulging as much information as possible without giving up too much. It's a game of chess as Swain says. Darius personally usually hates these types of conversations. But usually he's the captor instead of the captive. Now he's the one with his life on the line and he can't help but enjoy the thrill of it.

She's quiet as she thinks carefully of her next question. She takes a breath, about to begin, when a loud voice cuts her off. "Oh good the prisoner's awake!" Entering the forest grove is the Demacian he had exchanged blows with the previous day. He shares a slight resemblance to Eryn. Both have tan skin and bright brown eyes and similar round faces. But the man has a strong jawline and is much taller with broad shoulders. He also carries himself tall and marches like a soldier. Unlike Eryn he's been in the Demacian military for quite some time. 

Eryn smiles warmly as he approaches the tree they're sitting at. A genuine smile unlike the fake ones she's been throwing towards Darius. "Find anything to eat, Claudius?"

"Sure did." He tosses her a cloth bag, which she opens and inspects the contents of, pulling out a handful of berries and nuts. "Enough for all three of us." Claudius turns his attention now to Darius. "Which we will be willing to share with you, Noxian, if and only if you cooperate with us." Darius rolls his eyes and chuckles at his attempt at a threat. "Care to share what's so funny _Noxian_?"

"Many things _Demacian._ Firstly that you believe I'd fall for your bluff. You need me alive, otherwise you would have killed me on that field and ran, so you will not let me starve. Secondly, I do not fear an empty stomach. You reek of Demacian privilege to believe that threat holds power over me." 

Claudius balls his hands into fists as his brow furrows and jaw clenches. He looks like hes about to throw a punch before Eryn grabs his arm. "Claudius, a moment please." She picks up the bag of food as she leads them to the opposite side of the clearing, leaving Darius alone to sit in silence. He watches them argue to one another in hushed whispers, wondering how he got himself caught by seemingly the most incompetent soldiers in the entire Demacian Army. 


	4. Chapter 4

As Eryn crosses the clearing she can feel Darius’s gaze boring into her back still. Every moment they spent speaking she felt him analyzing her, picking apart her words and actions. She’s realizing now she has to be careful, anything she says can be used as a weapon by the Noxian.

"Don't antagonize him  _ please  _ Claudius." Eryn pleads softly when she feels her and her brother are out of earshot of Darius.

"Why? We don't owe him anything and he's at our mercy." Claudius has calmed down but there's some venom to his voice still.

“Because-”  _ Because he's the leader of the Noxian Army and in the event that he escapes or we give him back to Noxus as a bargaining chip I'd like him to not have a vendetta against us and our family.  _ Eryn thinks to herself and  _ wants  _ to say out loud but she bites her tongue. She remembers the rapport she’s seemingly building with him. And how he looks at Claudius with so much more hatred than he does her. She begins to worry if she shares information with her brother that Darius will close off from her. This might be their only chance to obtain information from one of the Trifarix. As long as she can play this safely and smartly…

“Because we’re Demacians. And Demacians treat humans, even their enemies, with respect.”

“Not Noxians. Demacians who show Noxians kindness end up with a dagger in their back. No exceptions.” Claudius says with a tone of a parent lecturing a child. This causes Eryn to scowl. “Besides if we want information from a Noxian, they only respond to acts of strength. We need to show him we’re in charge here, not him.” 

She has to stop herself from rolling her eyes as annoyance builds. Despite her being older by 4 years, Claudius always treats her like a child. He got to go with their father on trips outside their farming town, he got to see the world and join the military, while Eryn was forced to stay at home out of sight. Learning to hide her magic and be a good farm hand. These woods are the farthest from home she has ever gone while her brother has seen the capital of Demacia. It makes him feel more knowledgeable than her, and his higher status in the military surely enflates that sense of superiority.

She sighs and quells the feeling of annoyance that had been bubbling in her chest. "Fine. You're the Lieutenant here. I'll follow your plan." He beams at her. 

"Great. No meals for the Noxian until he cooperates with information." Claudius declares and begins eating a handful of the berries. "In the meantime, we'll bunker here for tonight and then in the morning we need to trek to the next fort. This is Noxian territory now and who knows when they'll start stripping these woods for lumber."

"How will we get past the fort?"

"I know a way around it. A few secret tunnels in the cliffs. It's a few days' walk through these woods. They're abandoned mines that aren't on any maps anymore. We get through those and we'll be back in Demacian territory. We should sleep in watches from now on though. Keep an eye on our prisoner and an ear out for any soldiers."

Eryn hums and chews on her own share of the berries before glancing up and catching the gaze of Darius from across the clearing. He's watching them intently, like a wolf eying a meal, and it causes a shiver of fear to run down her spine.  _ We are very much in over our heads here… _ she thinks to herself, missing the days before she was drafted into this senseless fight.

* * *

They finish their meals, leaving a small amount in the bag for Darius, and Eryn watches her brother saunter over to their captive. She remains a few paces back behind him, not saying anything as Claudius begins his own line of questioning.

"What is your name and ranking, Noxian?" Claudius asks standing over the Noxian trying to look intimidatingly large.

Darius laughs. The sound is sharp, almost similar to a bark. It has a mocking tone. His eyes flicker between Claudius's face and Eryn's, before he settles back to lean against the tree with a smirk.

"Alright then." Claudius holds up the pouch of leftover berries and nuts. "This was your share originally. But now today you don't eat."

"I already told you I don't fear hunger. If this is your worst  _ Demacian  _ then you're wasting your breath."

Claudius snaps and grabs Darius by the hair and slams his head back into the tree. Darius grunts and grits his teeth at the pain. "Listen, Noxian, this is far from my worst but I prefer to not stoop to your levels. Cooperation will be a much more pleasant experience for you in the long run."

Darius glares and spits in Claudius's face, causing him to recoil backwards. He wipes the spit from his face and winds up his arm for a punch but Eryn catches his arm. "He needs to be able to travel tomorrow." She reminds him softly. "Don't make me waste my energy healing you  _ and _ him." 

Claudius stops and glances at Eryn before looking back at their captive. "Maybe the march tomorrow will have him singing a different tune." Claudius turns to walk through the grove. "Let's gather supplies."

Eryn follows, feeling Darius's eyes burning holes into her back.

They spend the rest of the day searching through their old hiding places for old supplies leftover from camping trips. They had hollowed out some large tree trunks when they were teens to store their supplies in for repeat trips. They manage to find some of their old hunting supplies and a small tent that could fit one person, two if they cuddle closely, but thankfully with them taking watches at night that won’t be necessary.

They take breaks often for Eryn to spend some of her returning magic to heal Claudius’s ribs, all the while she feels Darius watching them intently. She supposes if she was tied to a tree by her enemies she’d be doing the same, but it still unnerved her. 

Night falls and Eryn takes first watch. She’s not tired now that her magic is returning to her, and in fact is feeling far too energized to sleep. She sits stoking the fire they had made before the sun set, staring into the flames and trying to avoid casting glances at the man tied to a tree across the clearing. 

She waits until she hears the gentle snoring of her brother, the tell tale sign he was deeply asleep, before casting a cursory glance at Darius. The Noxian is still awake and meets her gaze.

She hesitates, glancing over to their pile of supplies, then finally sighs as she stands up and begins to walk across the clearing, carrying the bag of nuts and berries from earlier. His eyes never leave her as she approaches, stopping only once she’s a few paces in front of him. She holds up the bag of food, a silent offering.

He rolls his eyes and leans back against the tree. “Insulting.”

Her eyebrows furrow. “How so?”

“You pity me, thinking your brother’s treatment is enough to bring me harm. And that you are so  _ noble _ and  _ kind  _ for showing me mercy.” His jaw is clenched when he talks and his voice is filled with venom. She has to stop herself from flinching at his words. 

“That’s not true.” Eryn argues back, clenching her fists in anger.

“Then why? I don’t see you as the type to play, as the Piltoverian’s call it, ‘good cop bad cop’.”

She’s about to respond hastily, but stops herself. “Last I checked it was my round to ask a question.” His eyebrows raise but does not argue. Eryn sits down across from him with legs crossed. She had nearly forgotten their agreement from earlier, and hopes invoking it would still be effective. 

“Why invade Demacia?”

“The answer should be obvious. The majority of your military force is dealing with the mage revolt in the capital. Your king is dead and the crown prince injured. What troops you have not in the capital are marching north in search of your traitors. You’re spread too thin to resist invasion.” He states it all so matter of factly, like someone had asked him for directions. But that was not the answer she had been searching for.

“No I don’t mean why now, but why at all? What is it that makes the bloodshed and destruction worth it?”

“The same reason why the mages are rebelling. Demacia is ruled by tyrants and hypocrites. They preach justice and honor, but do not practice it by imprisoning their own people. They claim to deliver safety to citizens, but only if you surrender your freedom. It is time Demacia releases its tyrant grip on this land.” Every word he says causes anger to build in Eryn. She so badly wants to lash out. How could any Noxian feel they have ground to lecture, after the pain and suffering their endless wars cause? 

“Noxus is no better-”

“How is it not? You only think Demacia is just because you reap its benefits,  _ Mooreheart _ . That's a noble name is it not? How many servants does your family have, hm? That toil away so you can live a life of unearned comfort?"

Eryn feels her face go hot and for a brief moment she sees red. She takes a breath to shout a retort at him, but then stops. She notices how he's watching her, the same analytical gaze he's held all day. He's goading her now, trying to poke and prod for weaknesses. She exhales slowly and sits in silence for a moment, regaining her composure. "Is that your question?" She asks, feeling her voice still shake slightly from the anger she felt just moments ago.

Darius's lips curl ever so slightly into a smile. He hums, and he almost looks impressed for a split second before he speaks. "Sure. Tell me the tale of your noble heritage, Mooreheart."

She feels the rage in her flicker back to life from his tone, but pushes it down. "I am no noble. I have worked on a goat farm my entire life to help my family put food on the table. My village lies just beyond the walls of that fort your war machines tore through. Moorehearts were nobles once, but no longer. Once upon a time we were the lords of this land that the commoners serve. My great grandfather betrayed Demacia and disgraced our family name, exiling us to slave away in the outskirts, now we are those commoners. My brother joined the army to try to redeem our name." 

Eryn searches his face for a change in expression. Waiting to see him admit he's wrong. He doesn't. He continues to look at her with the same stern but inquisitive expression. Like he's analyzing a book or a map. He doesn't press further and instead waits for her to take her turn.

She breaks the silence forming between them with her next question. "And you, Darius? You didn't state a surname. Do you have any family?"

"A brother. Draven. We were orphans" He answers simply.

"You're relatively good looking, and the strongest man in Noxus… No lover or kids?" She presses further. For the first time all day she sees genuine anger flash across his face. This entire day he always seemed to be amused, even when being taunted by Claudius. She somehow had managed to finally crack the front he's been putting up.

He doesn't answer, and instead counters with his own question. His brow furrowed with annoyance and jaw clenched. He leans forward as much as his bonds let him.

"What is the point of this 'interrogation' if you can even call it that, if you're not going to share the information I give you with your own brother? Who I assume is your superior from the way he talks…" 

She hesitates breaking eye contact with him, causing him to continue to press. "You don't ask me things that would help give Demacia an edge even after you know  _ exactly _ who I am. So what is the point of this?"

Eryn thinks for a moment realizing she doesn't have an exact answer either. Why had she initiated this with him? She tells herself it was for information, for Demacia, but she should be asking questions like what are Noxus's next steps. Not foolish ideological questions about why they're here or about his family life. That doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Every question he asks gives him leverage. He’s gaining more here, and she knows it. So what  _ is  _ the point? Why risk giving up anything to him?

She isn’t sure how many minutes go by, but it feels like an eternity of her staring at the grass, searching for an answer, and him expectantly waiting for it. She swallows a lump that had formed in her throat, as she gathers her nerves. “Because I’m doing this for me, not for Demacia.” She states. “I’ve grown up hearing stories about the barbarian Noxians who live just over the steppes, how they only know how to take from others through violence and war.” His brow is furrowed, clearly insulted. “But I also was told the same thing about mages. So I’d like to be able to form my own opinions about Noxus and its people, to see why someone would want to live there if it truly is as horrid as we’re told. Or if they truly are all barbarians.”

Darius's face softens. For a moment she thinks to herself he really is rather handsome. The firelight dances across his face accentuating his cheekbones and jaw. His eyes are a deep brown that look almost somber when he’s not glowering. “It’s much easier to kill your enemies, or hand them off to their execution in my case, if you can dehumanize them. Pretend they are all pure evil monsters.” He seems satisfied with her response, and leans back against his tree, waiting for her to make her next move.

She lets out a breath he hadn’t realized she was holding and asks her next question. “I hear the tales of how Noxians are left to fend for themselves, if they can’t prove their strength they are left to suffer. Get stabbed in an alleyway, that’s too bad you should have been stronger than the robber. Is that true?” He simply nods in response. “Then why live there?”

He breathes in deeply before responding. “No one can cage you for simply existing. Once you’ve proven your worth, anyone can be anything in Noxus. Because in Noxus, everyone is free.” 

She wants to argue back, say that they’re free in Demacia. But she remembers her fear of the mageseekers taking her away haunted her dreams through adulthood. How she had to hide away never to leave her hometown for fear of being caught.

She wonders what that must be like. To feel free.


	5. Chapter 5

Eryn awakens the next morning to her brother gently shaking her shoulder. "Eryn c'mon we need to pack." Her eyes flicker open as she groans and she sees her brother kneeling over her.

She sits up, stretching her arms out and feeling the joints in them crack and pop from the stiffness. The tent protected her from the elements but not from the discomfort of the hard forest floor. "How are your ribs?" She asks. "Feeling better?"

"Pretty much perfect now, thanks to you." Claudius says with a warm smile. He holds a hand out to her which she takes and he hoists her to her feet.

"And our prisoner? Any problems?" She asks.

He shrugs. "He woke up a few times and still wouldn't talk to me. Typical Noxian prisoner."

Eryn begins to take down the tent, stealing a few glances over to Darius as she does. For once he's not watching them. He's staring off into the woods, seemingly lost in thought.

Her mind drifts to their conversations from the day before. Darius had decided to hold his next question for later and wanted to be left alone for the night. Eryn tended the fire in silence for a few hours to stew in her thoughts and then slept, somewhat restlessly. Her dreams being haunted by familiar fears. Mageseekers chasing her and locking her in a petricite cell. Never to see the light of day again.

She's snapped out of her thoughts by a heavy hand on her shoulder. Claudius is staring at her, concerned. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asks standing up to shove the folded tarp of the tent into the bag.

"You were thrashing about in the tent most of the night." He takes the backpack from her and slings it over his shoulder. She frowns at him but doesn't protest. "Mageseekers again?"

She sighs refusing to meet his gaze, feeling embarrassed. "Yes." She felt like a child, afraid of the boogeyman that lives under her bed. Except the knowledge that the boogeyman was real and could be lurking in any town in the kingdom is what keeps the dreams coming back.

He places his hand on her shoulder again and squeezes reassuringly. "When we bring this Noxian to justice we will surely be heroes. And you will be pardoned. You won't have to live in hiding forever sister." Claudius says it with such conviction it's hard for her to resist the smile creeping to her face. "I made that promise to you when I left to join the army and I intend to keep it."

She sighs and the tension seems to leave her body. She places her hand atop his own with a small smile. "Let's get moving then."

They finish packing rather quickly after that. There is a small debate of what to do with Darius's armor. It was far too much to carry themselves and too risky to try to dress him in it. So they stashed it in pieces amongst their tree hidey holes, to hide it as best they could from Noxian scouts that could be on their trail.

Eryn did insist on keeping his axe with them. She was drawn to it, it was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Noxian steel with elegant curves, and a skull carved into the center. It almost resembles the Noxian emblem. Claudius wanted to leave it behind as well, but she ignored him. He had insisted on wearing his own Demacian armor and carrying the heavier backpacks, so Eryn ended up strapping the axe to her own back. At the very least it'll be good for chopping firewood in the evenings.

Once packed the siblings turned their attention to their prisoner. Claudius takes a step towards him and Eryn holds her arm out to stop him. "I'll be the one to untie him."

"But-"

"If he tries anything I can knock him out easier at a close proximity. If I don’t have a hand on him the energy drain is too ineffective." She interrupts. He scowls but nods in agreement.

Eryn was acutely aware of Darius's eyes on them the entire time they packed. She was growing used to that feeling. Of someone trying to dissect her every move. She notices how his eyes drift from her face to his axe now strapped to her back as she circles to the side of the tree he's tied to. His arms were tied tightly around the trunk and the ropes circled around his chest for good measure. She places a hand on his shoulder as she kneels at the side of the tree.

"I'm going to untie you now. You will sit still until I tell you to move or I will drain your energy instantly. And it will be more unpleasant this time since I'm well rested." She says to him softly. Her fingers begin to glow light green as she speaks, the magic rolling off her fingers like flames. 

Claudius is standing nearby, a hand on his warhammer, ready to support his sister.

Darius meets her gaze, smirking. "I think this is the first time you've threatened me." He notes.

She doesn't respond to him, keeping one hand on his shoulder while her other hand begins to undo the bonds.

His muscular arms once tied tightly against the bark fall slack at his side as the rope releases them. He rolls his shoulders, relieved to be released of the tension, but otherwise sitting still. She clenches her grip on his shoulder, a firm reminder of her presence. “Stand up and take a step forward.”

"Whatever you say, Lady Mooreheart." He replies in a mocking tone, low enough that Claudius can't make out the words. She feels the blood rush to her face in anger at the quip and is thankful he’s not facing her so he can’t get the satisfaction of seeing the reaction he got out of her. 

He then stands up, it’s the first time since their battle she's seen him at his full height. He towers over her with broad shoulders. Her hand trails from the top of his shoulder to his forearm as he does and she can feel how toned his muscles are. She gently takes his wrist and begins the process of tying his hands behind his back once again. She leaves a long stretch of rope dangling there to act like a leash.

As she’s doing this the motions remind her of her nightmare. How similar this was to the Mageseekers shackling her in her nightmares and how she just had to let them or risk being killed by them. The comparison made her feel nauseous and she pushed the memory away. She’s not like them, she reminds herself. Darius has killed countless Demacians. He’s her captive due to his choices  _ he  _ made. Not due to circumstances of his birth. Well, despite the “being born in Noxus” circumstance…

“Eryn are we ready?” Her brother’s voice snaps her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t realized she had finished tying the rope and was just standing there, staring at the bonds. She glances up and sees Darius looking at her over his shoulder, a quirked eyebrow as he eyes her curiously. 

She clears her throat. “Yes sorry. Let’s get going.”

* * *

They begin their march through the woods. Claudius holds the rope as he leads the way. Darius walks beside him a few paces back and Eryn brings up the rear. They walk in relative silence, the only sound is the crunching of branches beneath their feet and the melody of the forest. It’s a warm summer day, and Eryn is thankful for the shade the trees provide as they march. 

They only stop when it’s close to sundown. When they do Eryn can feel the dirt on her skin that was caked on from the sweat, and her exposed forearms sting from the sharp branches that had swiped at her. Her shoulders were stiff too from the weight of the axe strapped to her back. But she can’t rest yet. 

Claudius places the gear he was carrying down and pulls out an old hunting bow with a few arrows, before declaring he was going hunting. Meanwhile Eryn begins the process of tying Darius to a tree again, which follows a similar process to the one from this morning. When she’s done she offers him a sip of the waterskin which he accepts, although begrudgingly. She lowers it and sits beside him feeling somewhat awkward. “Are you hungry? There’s some berries leftover still I could-”

“I’m fine.” He cuts her off.

She glares at him, annoyed at both his stubbornness and rudeness. “Why won’t you eat?”

He closes his eyes and leans his head back against the tree. “It’s not your turn to ask questions.” He replies simply. 

She sits there and expectantly waits for him to ask one. But he doesn’t. So she stands up and finishes making camp. She sits on the other side of camp in silence.

Claudius returns with two squirrels and a rabbit, smiling triumphantly. He hands a carcass over to Eryn and sits beside the fire. They begin the process of skinning the creatures, letting a comfortable silence fall over them.

When Claudius finishes one of the squirrels and begins to roast it over the fire Eryn hears her stomach growl. The scent of cooking meat wafts over her and her mouth waters. She was suddenly acutely aware of how hungry she was.

Claudius glances over towards Darius, who was pointedly avoiding looking in their direction. "Change of heart yet, Noxian?"

He turns his head to face them. His eyes flicker between Eryn and Claudius before settling on Eryn. "Ask her." 

Eryn feels her veins run cold with anxiety. She locks eyes with Darius, wondering what he’s plotting. “What does he mean by that?” Claudius asks her, keeping his voice low so Darius can’t overhear. Meanwhile Darius is watching her, waiting to see what she would say. She wonders what he’s expecting her to do, to divulge the truth of their talks to her brother or to continue to keep them to herself. Whatever he expects, it’s clear his end goal is to try to sow discourse between them… 

She swallows the lump that had formed in her throat and steels her nerves. “He’s on a hunger strike. The threats won’t work because we wouldn’t be able to get him to eat if we wanted to.” She says as she continues to skin the rabbit in her hand. She breaks eye contact with Darius but refuses to look Claudius in the eye.

“How would you know that without-”

“I offered him food.” She cuts him off curtly.

“Eryn-”

“Interrogation can wait until we hand him over. Our superiors can torture him or whatever they want to do to get information, but for now he needs to have enough strength that he won’t die on this trip.” She snaps. “Whatever information we could be getting can wait. What matters now is to prevent him from becoming deadweight. So don’t try to lecture me about being too nice to a Noxian. I’m being practical”

Claudius looks like he wants to argue more. But he sighs and sits back down next to her. She’s still not looking at him, but she can hear him shifting around uncomfortably as he calms himself down. “You have a point. I’m sorry. But, you should have told me instead of going behind my back.”

_ Would you have listened?  _ She wonders to herself but doesn’t say out loud. She’s still annoyed with him, but this is the most he’s conceded in an argument in a long time. So she decides she will take the small victory. “I’m sorry too.” She feels guilty for not telling him everything and she tries to push that feeling away.

Claudius smiles at her warmly, content with the outcome. “Let’s stay on the same page from now on.” 

Eryn nods in agreement. Part of her is screaming to tell Claudius the rest of the truth, about everything she knows about Darius. She resists though, knowing it would most likely be the end of their talks. He’s trying to make her choose between her brother’s trust and access to Darius. If she plays this right she won’t have to choose…

* * *

Eryn takes first watch again, and waits until her brother is asleep before she even risks a glance at Darius. When she finally does she sees him eying her expectantly. They hold the gaze for what seems like eternity until he breaks the silence. “What did you tell him?” 

“You’re on a hunger strike, and to stop making a fool of us by threatening you when you clearly don’t care.” 

He chuckles, and it’s not like when he laughed at Claudius’s threats the day prior. When he laughed then, it was sharp and mocking, meant to prod Claudius into anger, almost sounding forced. Here the low rumbling chuckle was genuine amusement. It was brief and fleeting, before he continued to ask questions. “Interesting. Still not telling him the truth.”

“That is the truth. You’re being stubborn and won’t eat.”

“I mean the full truth. What will happen when tomorrow I tell him how you’ve continued to talk to me behind his back? Or how much you truly know but haven’t told him?”

She breathes deeply before answering his question with one of her own. “Would you still be playing this game with me if my brother got involved?”

“So you value keeping my trust more than your brother’s.”

“I can mend things with my brother. We’re family.”

“Are you sure you want to be testing that theory? That your familial bond can withstand colluding with the enemy?”

“We are  _ not _ colluding.”

“What would you call this then, since it certainly isn't an interrogation?” Eryn doesn’t have a retort even though she wishes she has one. He looks so smug, like he’s the one in control here despite being the one tied to a tree. 

“I think that’s enough for your turn.” She says as she stands up, grabbing the leftover roasted rabbit. It had grown cold by now, but she had insisted on leaving leftovers for their prisoner. She now sits down directly in front of him holding it up. “What do I need to do to get you to eat?”

Darius laughs again, but this time it’s the sharp mocking laugh he typically has around Claudius. Eryn glares, not enjoying that tone being directed at her. “That’s what you want to use your turn on?”

“We will reach the caves tomorrow night. Claudius isn’t sure how long we’ll be in them but food will be scarce. I’d like to make sure you’re not going to become deadweight.” She explains and waits for his answer. He takes a moment to think about it before responding.

“Untie me and let me feed myself.”

Eryn’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “Absolutely not.”

“You were so confident in your magic being able to knock me out instantly earlier, why not now?” He was taunting her again and she balls her hands into fists.

“Why not just eat the food tied up, what’s the point?”

“It’s degrading.”

She scoffs. “You’re too prideful. That’s why you’re starving yourself?”

“You could do with having more pride. It keeps weaklings from walking over you.”

He’s smirking at her. He’s trying to take back control of the situation. Feel like he’s in charge despite being the captive. Eryn weighs the risks. The longer he’s out of the bonds the more time he has to try to overpower her somehow and escape. But if she doesn’t do this she knows this hunger strike will continue and he risks becoming not only a danger to himself, but to her and Claudius by becoming deadweight they have to drag around. She sighs, placing the rabbit in front of him, before swiveling to the opposite side of the tree trunk and begins to undo his bonds.

She makes sure she always has a hand placed on his arm, always prepared to knock him out if he makes a sudden move, as his bonds loosen again and his arms fall free. She maneuvers so she’s sitting directly at his side, one hand resting on his shoulder. He rubs his hands over his wrists, relieved to be free of the bonds even for a short time. His wrists have turned a dark pink from the ropes rubbing at his bare skin for the past two days. 

Eryn watches as he picks up the rabbit and pops off one of the limbs with ease and begins to eat the meat off of it. She lets go of a breath she hadn’t noticed she was holding, relieved that he doesn’t seem to be attempting an escape. She doesn’t relax completely. She knows if she does he will feel it and seize that opportunity. But for some reason she takes comfort in the silence they’re sharing. She doesn’t want to admit it, but part of her likes being this close to him, less than an arm’s distance away, feeling his muscles tighten and contract at the small movements he’s making. 

He finishes the first limb and begins to move to the next, stealing a glance at her before biting into the meat. “What were your nightmares about last night?” He asks between bites, breaking the silence.

She feels heat rise to her face, embarrassed that it was so noticeable to both her brother and Darius. “You want to spend your turn on my nightmares? Who’s asking meaningless questions now?” 

He gives a small chuckle. The low, rumbling, amused one not the mocking one. She can feel the sound reverberate through his body. “I’d like to know what could be haunting you, someone who has the raw magical power to instantly knock any man unconscious.”

_ Only one at a time, and only if I can get my hands on them, and half the time it knocks me out.  _ Eryn corrects him in her mind, but not out loud. She knows better than to be divulging all her weaknesses to him. “Mageseekers.” She responds simply.

He seems satisfied with her answer and doesn’t press further. There was nothing deeper than that. No deep-seated psychological issues haunting her. Mageseekers are enough to terrify any Demacian mage to give them recurring nightmares for a lifetime. “Leave Demacia then.” He suggests and she scoffs.

“And go where? Noxus? You may not have Mageseekers but they’re replaced with vultures. Assassins and thugs waiting for you to make a misstep, to falter, to grow old, to show weakness. Then they strike and take everything you have. Is that not right?” There’s venom in her voice now and her grip on his shoulder tightens. He’s trying to manipulate her right now, to soften her to Noxus. Hoping to gain her sympathy. She’s not going to fall for it, or his propaganda speeches.

“You could easily prove your worth, you’re strong. You’d be the one _ they _ fear.” He replies simply, as if that would absolve her worries.

“I shouldn’t _have_ to be strong to not have to live in fear. And I don’t want others to fear me. That’s not freedom either. Mages aren’t free here in Demacia, but _no one_ is free in Noxus.”

He’s glaring at her now, the rabbit bone in his hand snaps as he clenches his fist. “Maybe I was wrong about you. Demacian ideals have made you weak.”

“How so?”

“Noxus gives all a chance to thrive. If you don’t take that chance, you’re too weak to be of use anyway.”

“And I am weak for having compassion for those who are not fit to fight for their lives? What is the use of being strong if it is not to protect those who are weak?” She sees he wants to retort but she keeps going, not giving him the chance. “What will become of you one day Darius, when you grow old and are no longer of use to the Noxian war machine? Are there not those who are just circling you, waiting for you to falter so they can strike and take your place? Casting you aside like a useless scrap of meat?”

Rage flashes across his face as she lectures him. “That’s enough, Mooreheart! You do not know of Noxus so what gives you the right to speak of it?”

“Then tell me, is what I said untrue? Would I be free in Noxus if I was weak and defenselessl?” She demands and he doesn’t answer. She takes his silence as confirmation. “That is not freedom then. My nightmares of Mageseekers would just be replaced by faceless figures, lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike and take everything I hold dear. Petricite shackles replaced by steel blades plunging into my back.”

Eryn takes a breath and still silence washes over them. She can see every fiber of Darius is clenched and tense. His eyebrows furrowed deeper than she’s ever seen and his lips are curled almost into a snarl. In her hand resting on his shoulder she can feel how tense he is, how he’s holding himself back right now. The only thing that seems to be keeping him from lashing out right now is the silent threat of her magic. She breathes out slowly before breaking the silence. “Hurry up and eat. I believe our conversation is over for tonight.”


	6. Chapter 6

Darius awakens the next morning groggily to the sounds of the Demacians packing up their tents. He yawns as he shifts against his bonds, wanting to stretch his stiff muscles but unable to. His movement catches Eryn’s eye, and they meet each other's gaze for a moment, before she furrows her brow and looks away. He feels his chest tighten with annoyance again, as the memories from their argument last night rush back to him. He hates to admit it, but the Demacian has gotten under his skin. She had poked and prodded enough to find one of his insecurities. His own fears about his future in Noxus. His own regrets from his past. 

She’s acting as if  _ he  _ had done something wrong, when he’s the captive here. He answered her questions honestly and somehow she was the one mad at him. She's stubborn in her ideals. It reminds him of Quiletta, and that thought sends a pang of remorse through him. He pushes the memory away, reminding himself that she died because she was too weak to see what is necessary. Just as Eryn is too weak to see how staying with Demacia is foolish. She chooses it because it is familiar, a bird who chooses to clip their own wings because she's afraid to fly. 

It annoys him.  _ She  _ annoys him. Her endless curiosity, her stubbornness, her Demacian naivety, all of it. He doesn't want to dwell on the reasons  _ why _ it all annoys him. That he has those fears. He doesn’t want to admit to that weakness. So instead he glares at Eryn from across the forest clearing, annoyed that she made him doubt himself for even a moment last night.

The morning is uneventful and not long after they’re packed they continue their trek through the woods. He tries to push the thoughts of Eryn away and to focus on other things. His mind drifts to plans of escape, to thoughts of home. He wonders how Draven is doing, how he’d find this entire scenario Darius has found himself hilarious. How  _ when  _ he gets home he’d be teased relentlessly about it. He wonders what Noxians will think of him, will they see him as weak for getting captured? Probably…

He’s pulled out of his thoughts as he feels the ground shake beneath him slightly. The Demacians feel it too as Claudius also pauses in place to listen. A few moments later, the earth shakes again. The birds in the trees screech in surprise as they flutter away from here. “Are earth tremors normal in this area?” He asks, turning his head slightly to look at Eryn behind him.

Her eyes are slightly wide and jaw slack. She’s looking past him right now towards her brother. They’re exchanging a nervous look. They know more than they’re letting on. 

“It can’t be-” Claudius begins to ask shakily but Eryn interrupts him.

“What else could be causing tremors?”

“But we’re in a forest Eryn!”

“I’ve noticed!”

“So then how would it have gotten here?”

“I don’t know, avoiding the war machines?”

The siblings bicker for a moment. Claudius seems shaken, which is odd to Darius. The man has had an overabundance of confidence since the moment he met him. Whatever this was, it scared him more than facing the Noxian army.

“We’re going to have to keep pressing on before it finds us then.”

“And what if we run straight into it Claudius?”

The tremors are getting more severe as the two argue. Whatever  _ it  _ was, it was getting closer. Darius takes a step backwards. Eryn was holding his rope and with her distracted he could easily overpower her, he could break free before she could cast a spell. This could be his chance to escape while they deal with whatever is coming. He’s about to yank and make a dash, when suddenly there’s a large CRACK and a tree falls just feet behind Darius. He whips around and finally sees  _ it. _ A monstrous creature larger than a house, with beady eyes and a powerful looking jaw with tusks that look like they’re made of solid stone. It’s entire body is covered in a rocklike carapace. It’s clawed hand is resting on the cracked tree and it’s slowly raising its other hand to make a swing at the three.

“Darius get behind me!” Eryn jumps in front of Darius, throwing herself between him and the monster’s incoming blow, and his eyes go wide with shock that the smaller soldier was protecting  _ him  _ with her own body as a shield. She’s wielding  _ his  _ axe and as the monster brings down its claw in a mighty swing he’s sure she will be crushed. But right before impact her entire body glows alight with green flamelike energy, her magic, and she manages to block the blow with her axe although it knocks her back. His axe clangs off the monster’s rocky claw, not leaving a dent, but her magical strength is enough to stop his momentum and she holds it in place.

Eryn’s gritting her teeth with strain, it’s obvious she can’t hold it back forever, and her magical aura is flickering as she struggles to maintain it and hold the beast back. Claudius rushes in with his warhammer and slams it into the underside of the creature’s forearm, staggering it back for a moment. 

With it momentarily stunned, Eryn regains her posture and puts a hand on Claudius’s shoulder. The green magic is transferred to her brother now, and he slams his hammer down onto the beast's arm with a sickening crack, but it barely makes a dent in the carapace. However the force of the blow does send the creature reeling a step backwards. “Claudius, cragbeasts are weak in their underbelly aim for that-”

“I know Eryn, I know the tales too!” He snaps back before charging in. 

She glares at him, annoyed at his tone, before turning to Darius, giving him a quick once over to check for injuries. “You alright?” He nods and he sees slight relief seem to wash over her face.

Her attention is drawn back to the cragbeast as the sound of Claudius yelping in pain rings through the forest. He’s been chucked across the forest through the trunk of a tree by the creature. He crumples to the ground, unconscious. Eryn swears under her breath and grips onto Darius’s axe, he can see the wheels turning in her head as she thinks. “Let me go, give me my axe, I can handle this.” He offers.

“No.” She answers immediately, gripping onto it tighter. He wants to argue back that she’s being foolishly stubborn, but the cragbeast has turned its attention back to them. It’s picked up a tree trunk and has flung it at them. Eryn braces for impact, her magic flaring to life around her as she raises Darius’s axe to block the blow again. The axe cleaves through the bark like it was butter, but before Eryn could ready herself for the next blow the cragbeast had used that chance to close the distance between them. It raises both of its arms and brings them slamming down into the ground. 

Eryn grabs Darius by his shirt collar and drags him with her as she dashes forward to get beneath the body of the cragbeast. The ground behind them where they stood previously is just a crater, and the cragbeast’s torso is just a few feet above their heads. Engulfed in green magic still, Eryn leaps up and strikes at the cragbeast’s underbelly with Darius’s axe. The blade slices deeply into its stomach and blue blood and guts pour out from the wound and onto the two of them. The cragbeast screams in pain and begins to stagger back and Eryn takes a second swing at it for good measure. The cragbeast’s limbs begin to wobble, and Eryn shoves Darius backwards as they duck out from underneath its body. The monster collapses, blue blood and guts spill out from its body and onto the forest floor. 

Darius is lying on the ground beside Eryn. They’re both covered in the blood of the cragbeast and panting heavily. Darius can feel his heart pounding and adrenaline pumping from the ordeal. Once the terror of battle is over, anger rushes through him. He got tossed around like a ragdoll, needing protection from the smaller warrior, all because he was their captive. If  _ he  _ had been free things would have gone much smoother. He tests his bonds, hoping to feel they came loose in the fight, and groans in annoyance that after  _ all  _ of that he was still tightly bound.

He sits up and turns to look over at Eryn, who he is surprised to see smiling widely. She’s still breathing heavily as she comes down from the adrenaline high. She notices he’s turned to look at her and she seems to suddenly become self conscious. She wipes the blood off her face, still leaving smudges behind, before sitting up. “You seem rather happy, considering the circumstances.” He notes.

Her cheeks turn pink as she blushes, embarrassed by her clearly evident joy of the battle. “Sorry. I guess I should be more solemn considering we probably could have died. But cragbeasts are said to only be able to be slain by capable _ heroes. _ Like Garen Crownguard-”

He laughs at the mention of Garen, cutting her off mid sentence. She looks at him confused. “Don’t compare yourself to Garen Crownguard.”

She sighs. “Yes I suppose it is quite foolish of me to compare myself to him, he is quite the accomplished knight.”

“No. He’s an utter imbecile. It’s an insult to your own prowess to compare you to him.”

He watches her expression change from annoyance that he was insulting probably a fabled hero to her, before she blushes and looks flustered again. He notes to himself that she looks rather… cute. Covered in gore, holding his axe, and blushing at a compliment to her capabilities. And Darius means it too. He doesn’t respect the Crownguards. But Eryn, as naive and foolish as she is, he admires her. She frustrates him to no end with her stubbornness, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that she’d make a capable Noxian soldier.

“Ahem.” The sound of someone clearing their throat catches their attention, and the two turn to see Claudius standing behind them. He’s clutching his chest and his face is contorted in pain, and he’s glaring at the two of them.

“Claudius!” Eryn must have just remembered her brother had been hurt in the battle, her face widens with shock and she stands up, magic flaring around her hands, ready to heal her brother. She touches him and the magic washes over him for a brief moment, but then he shrugs off her hand breaking the connection, causing her to look confused at him. “What’s wrong?”

“When you jumped to defend him, you called him something… Darius was it? When did you learn his name?” He’s pointing his warhammer at Darius as he speaks.

She freezes in place. Darius can see several emotions run across her face, fear, regret, shock. She’s been caught in a lie. “Claudius I can explain-”

“You lied to me! You said just  _ yesterday  _ you’d be honest with me, but yet you find out more about him and don’t share it with  _ me?  _ Your own brother?” She doesn’t respond, and he continues to rant. “I can’t believe you! You’ve been so chummy with him now too, like he’s your friend! This is just like the time when we were kids with the wolf-”

“That was 15 years ago Claudius-”

“And you clearly haven’t learned anything from it have you? You’re just repeating the same mistakes!”

Silence washes over them. Claudius is breathing heavily from all the shouting before he sighs and turns away. “Tie him up to something and set up camp here. I’m going to go hunting. I need to be alone.”

* * *

Eryn did convince Claudius to let her heal him a bit before he marched off into the woods, and then Darius and her were alone again, with him tied to yet another tree. He watches her set up their campsite, and he notices how sluggish her movements are. The fight and magic use had taken its toll on her. 

Eventually, after the tent was set up, she does make her way over to him holding a waterskin and a piece of cloth. “You’re covered in cragbeast blood still.” She comments as he raises his eyebrow at her inquisitively.

“I don’t need you to clean me.” He retorts, annoyed at the proposition. 

“You’ll start to stink if I don’t.”

“Sounds more like your problem than mine.”

She groans. “Fine. It was  _ technically  _ my turn to ask a question, but we can skip mine if you will allow me to clean your face. Ask me whatever you want.”

He thinks for a moment, confused that she’d give up leverage just for a chance to clean the grime off of him. “Tell me the wolf story your brother mentioned, when he was angry with you earlier.”

Eryn groans again, making a disgusted face. “Really, of all the questions?” She mumbles as she sits down beside him and begins to wet the rag with water from the water skin. “It’s a dumb story…” She takes a deep breath in before beginning the tale. “I was about… 13 or 14 at the time. I had known about my powers for a little while now and I was practicing in secret with them. Trying to get better at healing things. It started with injured birds the barn cats would catch but not kill, I would nurse them back to health with my magic. But then one day, I found an injured wolf.” 

As she talks she takes the damp cloth and runs it over Darius’s face, beginning the process of removing the dried blood from him. He closes his eyes, relaxing into the touch a bit. For a moment he forgets about how he’s her captive, and just listens to her warm voice tell her tale. 

“She was this beautiful grey wolf. I don’t know what hurt her, but she was on death’s door. I took her in and hid her in the old barn we weren’t using. I knew my parents wouldn’t approve, they didn’t even like that I was healing birds. Too risky to be using my powers in Demacia. But… I was selfish. I thought I could befriend this wolf, like one would a dog. That when I healed her back to health she’d be my faithful companion. 

“But I was wrong. After I healed her she went off to where she came from before, seemingly forgetting about me, or so I thought. A year later she came back. This time with her wolfpack. They slaughtered not just our family’s goats, but every farmer’s livestock in the village. If I had just left her to die, or put her out of her misery, she probably wouldn’t have led her family there to wreak havoc upon our town. In the end my father gathered the men of the village and went hunting, eventually killing every last wolf in the pack.”

Eryn finishes her tale with a breathy sigh. Her fingers run through his hair as she removes as much of the crusty dried blood from it as she can, and they sit in comfortable silence for a few moments before Darius opens his eyes again. He can see she’s not looking at him, but past him, as she remembers the story herself. Her dark brown eyes look somewhat glazed over and somber. “So your brother thinks of me like that wolf.” He says and her eyes snap back to attention, remembering where she is.

She sighs, removing her hands from his hair and part of him is upset to lose her touch. “I suppose he does see this as history repeating itself.”

“And is it?” He presses. 

She pauses as she considers her answer. “While my intentions are different, the reality is the same. I’m being selfish withholding information from my brother. And you will probably take advantage of that, of our talks, of any kindness I show you, because who wouldn’t in your situation? And, if I am foolish and slip up and you do escape, the blood of every Demacian who dies to your axe, will be on my hands.”

He takes a moment as he thinks over what she’s said. He has such a hard time understanding her. She knows she is being foolish by practically committing treason from these chats, but she continues anyway. “So what are you gaining that is worth this risk?” He asks and his tone is somewhat accusatory.

She sighs again and shakes her head. “I just… I guess it’s just nice getting to see another point of view. A Noxian point of view. I don’t… agree with you… about everything. But it’s nice to be able to have that.” She looks sheepish as she says it. Embarrassed that she’s admitting to enjoying the company of a Noxian. 

He moves a bit and settles against the tree, trying to find a comfortable position as he breathes deeply, resigning himself to his situation at least for now. It wouldn’t hurt to let her indulge in her selfishness a bit, and he’d be lying to himself if he said he also didn’t enjoy their banter. “I believe I’ve gotten more than enough from my turn. What would you like to know about Noxus, Eryn?”

Her face turns bright pink, much to Darius’s amusement. She had completely forgotten about the game of information swapping  _ she  _ initiated. She would have prattled on forever if he had continued to press her, wouldn’t she? “Ah right… Tell me.. Tell me about growing up in Noxus.”

And so he does. He tells of his humble beginnings in the port city of Basilich, of how he would fight with gangs for food and to protect his rambunctious brother. His early allyship with Quiletta and how the trio were well respected on the city streets. He tells tales of their antics together, like the time Draven stole itching powder from a merchant to prank Quiletta with, how he and Quiletta would climb the cliff tops near the city just to watch the sunsets, how the three would often go to sleep hungry and not knowing where the next meal was coming from but still found comfort in their unity. One day Basilich was invaded by Noxus and their city became another cog in the Noxian Warmachine, and all three ended up enlisting in the army when they got older. Instead of fighting for food and for a place in the world, they earned it together. He tells stories of some of their early battles together, the glory it brought to them.

Eryn would ask questions occasionally as he talked, sometimes for clarification, sometimes to press him on a topic, and often to tease him. After he tells of a particularly glorious battle where Quiletta saved his life she interjects again somewhat wistfully. “You talk so highly of her and your brother. I wish I could meet them too.”

He pauses. The painful memories of Quiletta’s untimely death at the hands of her own daughter come flooding back to him. The pain must be written all over his face because Eryn notices it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-” She begins to apologize.

“It’s alright.” He interrupts and silence washes over them for the first time since the battle. He hadn’t realized how late it had gotten, how their talking had eaten up so much time. The sun was nearly setting now and soft orange light washes over them, setting her dark skin aglow and washing her dark curly hair with a golden rim light. She waits to see if he will continue, not pressing any farther into the painful memory unless he wished to share. Truthfully, he hadn’t really talked about her death, not even to Draven. “You would have liked her. She was just as annoyingly idealistic as you.” He says with a joking jab, trying to lighten the mood again. 

“I’ll take that as a compliment then.” Eryn says with a sly smile. She’s still looking at him with slight concern in her eyes.

Darius isn’t sure what spurs him to continue. Maybe to prove that he isn’t weak, that he’s unbothered by her death, or that Eryn reminded him of Quil, or that he just was ready to talk about it. But he swallows a lump that had formed in his throat before continuing. “She had her doubts about Noxus at the time. She had lost her arm in war with Ionia, poison from friendly fire got into her wound and we had to amputate. Then her… her son died in a campaign against the Freljord barbarians to the north, a campaign led by myself. She rebelled, and I was the one who had to quash it. I gave her a chance to surrender, to spare her and her men, and she wouldn’t take it. And in the end I was the one too weak to end her life. Her daughter cut her down in front of me, and raised the banner to end the rebellion.”

He finishes the tale and they sit in the still quiet of the forest. The silence between them now is unbearable as Eryn looks at him with a pained expression. With  _ pity.  _ “I’m sorry.” Is all she musters.

He grits his teeth and turns away. “It’s alright. She was…” He trails off. He wants to call her weak, it’s what he’s been telling himself for the past year since the battle. That they both were weak. Her for breaking from Noxus, and him for failing to fulfil his duty. It’s the only way he’s been able to move on from it.

“She was strong.” Eryn finishes the sentence for him, and he looks at her quizzically. “Anyone who would willingly go against Noxus has to be after all. To stand up for what they believe in. Even if it means betraying the ones you love.” She’s somewhat wistful when she says it. Like she’s not talking to Darius but to herself.

Darius nods, unable to find it in himself to argue against her. “I suppose she was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for all the kind comments and kudos! I don't respond to everyone since I often don't know what to say but y'alls support is so sweet. I'm so happy people have been enjoying this so far! Little bit of a longer chapter this time too! I had debated splitting it into 2 chapters but I don't really want Darius POV chapters to happen too often, so I contained it to one. Hope you enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm updating the tags and rating for a few things!
> 
> 1\. Spiders are featured in this chapter so I figured I'd put a content warning here and in the tags since I know that is a pretty common pobia
> 
> 2\. When doing research for this chapter I figured out I am an idiot who didn't know where petricite came from in lore. When I drafted this fic, the location of this chapter was an important set piece, and how I THOUGHT petricite worked was too. So I debated on what to do for a while before settling on just changing it to come from where I thought it came from (rocks/mines) instead of where it actually comes from (TREES I am a fool it makes so much sense why its called petricite now). So due to that I'm just gonna add the canon divergence tag in case there are people who are sticklers about canon things like that being right and to just preempt any comments going HEY THAT'S NOT WHERE IT COMES FROM. 
> 
> 3\. I originally rated this mature because I wasn't super confidant in committing to writing a sex scene even though I really wanted to. But I'm gonna do it I'mma commit to EVENTUAL SMUT so I'm adding that as a tag and upping the rating to explicit.

Eryn is unaware of the passage of time as she sits enraptured by Darius's stories of his homeland. The rational part of her tries to argue that he is just embellishing his stories to try to manipulate her, to make her soften to him and his cause. But when he talks about Quiletta she can see his face soften. His eyes are wistful as he remembers this person he must have cared so much for. And she knows that at least the story is genuine, it's not an act, the emotions written across his face are too raw, too real.

She’s so enamored in his tale she doesn't notice the soft thudding footsteps of her brother returning to camp. It’s only when Darius’s story about Quiletta is complete and the gentle quiet of the forest envelops them does she finally hear the crunching of leaves of her brother across the campsite. She turns to look over her shoulder at him. He's carrying several rabbits from his hunt, a much larger haul than last night’s, and he's sending an icy glare towards the pair sitting together. 

Eryn stands up, groaning as her joints ache and her muscles feel like they’re made of molasses, and she slowly makes her way across the campsite to join her brother. The battle with the monster has left her drained, both physically and magically. Her eyes have been feeling heavy all night and it’s been difficult to fend off the exhaustion. She silently sits across from her brother and helps skin his kills. She can feel the hair on her arms stand on end as every glance from her brother sends icy dread shooting through her veins. 

“How are your injuries?” She asks, trying to break the ice. She won’t look him in the eye when she speaks. He grunts in response, not giving an answer. “I have some energy left if you need more healing.” No response. 

She finishes skinning the rabbit and sets it up to roast over the fire before taking the next one. “It’s unfortunate that cragbeast meat makes you sick, that could have fed us for weeks if we dried it out. We wouldn’t go hungry through our entire trek, and then some!” She notes and forces a smile as she looks over at Claudius. He looks up to meet her gaze with, his eyes filled with intense malice. It makes Eryn’s stomach churn and she glances away.

“Are you really going to pretend like nothing has happened?” Claudius asks through gritted teeth as he skins his rabbit with much more force.

“I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it.” Eryn says. It’s half true. But the full truth is  _ she  _ doesn’t want to talk about it because she can already see the impending explosive argument.

“Are you willing to stop lying to me, to tell me everything like you  _ said  _ you would?" She falls quiet. "Then no, I don't want to talk."

* * *

The night goes by in uncomfortable silence. The sun sets and Claudius says he will take first watch, so Eryn heads off to sleep in the tent. She falls asleep quickly, the exhaustion from the days fight overtaking her.

She is surprised to not wake up to her brother swapping watches with her, but to sunlight fluttering through the tent. Assuming something must be wrong she tosses the fur blankets off of her and rushes out of the tent.

Her brother is sitting by the fire, snuffing out the last embers. He glances at her as she looks at him confused. "You never swapped watches with me." She states dumbfounded.

"I thought maybe you needed a full night sleep to come to your senses. Away from…" He nods his head towards their captive, who is fast asleep with his head resting against a tree.

She feels anger causing the hair on her neck to bristle. "Claudius, you can just say you don't trust me anymore. Don't act like you did that out of kindness." He doesn't reply and she looks over to see they still have some leftover roasted rabbits left. "He didn't eat?"

"He won't even throw insults my way. He knows he can't manipulate  _ me _ ." Claudius responds bitterly, and Eryn bites back a retort. Half of her agrees with him, knowing that this is probably. He watches Eryn as she goes to pick up a rabbit and walk over to Darius's side. The sound of the two arguing had woken him up and he was sitting upright now.

Eryn kneels down to be at his eye level and offers the food to him. He turns his head away from the offering. "You know my conditions." He replies when he sees her annoyed look.

"Not with Claudius around." She responds quietly.

He scoffs. "Its funny how you're not afraid to defy me, but you let yourself be bossed around by your weakling brother."

Her cheeks burn red, and she wants to argue back, but she hears Claudius approaching. "Eryn, let him starve if he wants to. We need to pack up and move."

* * *

They pack up quickly and are marching again through the forests, this time Eryn is carrying the backpack filled with supplies and Claudius is holding onto Darius’s lead rope.. It’s around midday when she can see the towering cliffs that surround most of Demacia's borders. Insurmountable mountains that only can be ascended with the help of beasts like silverwings, white griffins that select Demacian soldiers are gifted. The only way through these mountains is by air or tunnel. 

Which is exactly what they arrive at. An old Demacian mining tunnel nestled in these woods at the base of a cliff. According to Claudius it will take them to the opposite side of Fort Ironwood. The caves used to be guarded by Demacian soldiers, but with the fort overtaken by Noxians and the mines not on any map, the location was abandoned unbeknownst to their enemy. 

Outside the entrance to the cave was a small mining hut where the foreman who formerly worked here would store supplies. It was made of rickety rotting wood with a patchwork roof, and it had been converted into a small guard hut by the Demacian soldiers, but it still had old mining supplies stashed around. Eryn and Claudius quickly ransack the hut and find a few old oil lanterns with hopefully enough oil for the hike through the caves. Darius watches them with mild boredom but stays silent.

Outside the hut, Eryn inspects the old mine carts that were rusting, tipped over on the grass, and notices the pure white dust that lines them. She swabs the dust with a finger and feels her skin tingling oddly and quickly shakes it off. "Claudius… what did they mine here?" She calls into the hut. He doesn't respond. "Claudius!"

"Petricite." He answers as he steps out of it, dusting off the lanterns with disinterest.

Eryn's blood runs cold. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"Not so fun having your allies keep secrets from you is it?" Claudius's tone was bitter.

"Claudius how could you?!" A petricite cave was her worst nightmare come alive.

"Would you have agreed to this if you knew? This was our best option to get back to safety!"

"I'm not going in there. Claudius this is a stupid plan!" Her voice was cracking from the terror of it.

"This is our  _ only  _ plan Eryn. It's time for you to wake up and do what you need to do as a  _ Demacian.  _ We do what we must for the safety of our people. We have a duty to bring this Noxian to justice to answer for his surely countless war crimes." Eryn sees Darius roll his eyes at that comment. "It is time for you to start doing your duty." Claudius tosses one lantern to Eryn before lighting his own and makes his way into the cave, forcing Darius to tag along with him. 

She clutches the iron lantern, her hands shaking before breathing in and following the two of them. Instantly upon crossing the threshold into the cave she can feel her skin begin to tingle all over her body before being replaced by a pressing numbness in her core. She tries to summon her magic, but she feels nothing. Like she’s been drained of it. She feels empty, cold, and scared as she trods after her brother. A part of her was missing.

Her brother leads the way holding his own lantern with Darius situated between them. She can see Darius glance back a few times at her, and everytime she tries to hide the anxiety plainly written on her face. Soon the light from the entrance fades completely and the only light comes from the glow of their oil lanterns. Their footsteps echo off the cave walls and the air turns cool and moist. There are several offshoots of the mines, which according to Claudius eventually loop back into the main cavern they're traveling in. 

Once they've been walking for what must have been a few hours Claudius breaks the silence that had been forming. "I truly am sorry I didn't tell you about the cave sister. But I knew you'd be resistant and it was our only hope to get home unscathed."

"It's alright Claudius." She says, but her heart isn't in it. And it's obvious to her brother.

"This certainly has been a stressful few weeks. But if this Noxian is as high ranking as we believe, I am sure we will get knighted for our bravery. You and father can retire to a life of luxury and-"

"Demacians truly think of nothing but status." Darius interrupts.

"You wouldn't understand, Noxian. To watch your family toil away farming land that is owed to them by blood. We should be barons. If we had what we were owed Eryn would never have to fear the mageseekers and we would never go hungry."

"And how is that justice? Land should not be given to one just because of their name alone. That is not fairness. You are not owed luxury simply because your great grandfather slept with the baroness." Darius argues back. "What you do and what you preach are misaligned, Demacian." Claudius whips around on his heels and slams Darius into the cave wall. The Noxian laughs at the display of force and the cave walls shutter, dust falling from the ceiling. They’re standing directly in a portion of the cave that had opened up and was much wider, with a few branching off shoots from the main corridor.

"And slaughtering the people who own that land  _ is  _ just?"

Eryn wants to reach out and stop the two, but suddenly she sees a shadow quickly move in her peripheral vision. She spins around searching for where it had come from, scanning the multiple entrances into this area of the cave. "Claudius..."

"We don't slaughter innocents.”

Another shadow catches Eryn's attention, sending her attention upwards.

"Explain Ionia then?"

Eryn flashes her lantern towards the ceiling and hundreds of red glowing eyes peer back at her.

"Claudius!"

Before the two can react, there's a loud hissing noise and the spiders that had been hiding on the ceiling begin to descend upon them. The arachnids are huge, maybe the size of a large dog, and there are dozens of them all free falling from the ceiling.

Claudius pushes away from Darius and equips his warhammer with swift grace. He immediately squashes the first giant spider to land beside him, but then two more take its place.

Eryn unsheaths Darius's axe and swings at a spider, but it nimbly dodges before lunging at her. She stumbles backwards as it sinks its fangs into her forearm. She yelps as she flings it off her body sending it flying across the cave floor. She's panicking, without being able to buff herself with her magic she can't brute force her way through this fight. She feels useless.

A second spider lunges towards her and she brings the axe up to brace for impact when suddenly Darius sends it flying into the cavern wall with a powerful kick to its side. He sends a glance back at her, seeing if she's alright. He's defending her, Eryn realizes. His captor.

There's a scream from across the cave and Eryn glances over to see Claudius overwhelmed by spiders. Dozens of them are crawling over him,sinking their teeth into his skin, as he tries to smash them with his warhammer. Eryn turns back to Darius and her body moves on her own. She lifts the axe and uses the blade to cut Darius's bonds, freeing him, before placing the handle in his hands. Her heart is hammering in her chest, part of her brain is screaming at her for freeing him. But she pushes it to the back of her mind as suddenly the two are surrounded by spiders. Darius pulls Eryn tightly to his chest before spinning them both around in a tight pirouette, Darius's axe outstretched cleaves through the hoard of spiders with ease. The spiders that had surrounded them are now lifeless and limp, scattered around them in pools of their own blood. 

Eryn glances up at him, his arm still around her tightly. He’s standing tall, his shoulders square, the axe in one hand seemingly a natural extension of his body. Confidant, no fear. This is the Hand of Noxus. He looks down at her, giving her one brief glance over to make sure she’s alright, before releasing her from his arms and turning his attention to Claudius. Her brother is covered in spiders, every arachnid he manages to get off of him is replaced by two more.

He then moves across the cave and lodges his axe into a spider that had its fangs buried into Claudius. Claudius looks at him confused, but doesn't have time to process what he's seeing as he has to shake off another spider biting into his leg. His hammer slams a second spider into the wall with a sickening thud and the walls of the cave shake again. 

Darius cleaves wide, easily taking out the majority of the remaining hoard in one graceful move. He slams his axe into a particularly large spider with tremendous strength, killing it instantly, causing the remaining spiders to begin to skidder away in fear down deeper into the cave. The threat was gone for now, leaving the three of them breathing heavily, hearts pumping from the adreneline. 

Darius returns to where he left Eryn. She hadn't realized her knees had given out during the fight and she was on the floor until she sees he's standing over her with his hand outstretched. She hesitantly takes it and she winces a bit as he helps her to her feet. "It bit you." He notes, inspecting her arm and the puncture wounds.

"I'm fine don't worry. Demacia isn't known for venomous creatures. It just stings." Eryn says with a small smile. His face softens, mostly looking relieved. Eryn is suddenly aware of the gravity of their positions. The Hand of Noxus was standing over her, his hand gently holding onto her, staring down at her with concern and relief. A man that was recently her captive, who is now free to exact his revenge, is concerned for  _ her. _ Her heart is hammering in her chest as her mind swirls with anxiety and fear as she realizes  _ she  _ freed their prisoner, but for some bizarre reason the warm glow of  _ affection _ bubbles in her chest as she meets his warm gaze.

The peace is broken as a warhammer nearly collides with Darius's side, but his reflexes are fast and he let's go of Eryn and blocks the blow with his axe. "How did you get free?!" Claudius demands through gritted teeth as he tries to overpower Darius, pressing the warhammer harder into the axe.

Darius shrugs him off sending him stumbling back. Before he can answer Eryn steps between them. "I freed him-"

His eyes flash with rage "Eryn you traitor-"

"You were overwhelmed! I'm useless without my magic, we needed his help!"

"We were fine-"

"We would be  _ dead  _ without him!" 

Claudius clenches his fist around the handle of his warhammer. He turns his attention to Darius standing behind his sister. "Surrender Noxian. You know how this ended last time."

Darius laughs and Eryn can suffice a guess why. The reason they captured him at all was from Eryn's magic putting Darius to sleep. Without access to that they don't stand a chance. And even with it, she wouldn't be able to surprise him with it a second time. He knows how her powers work. He wins this fight. "You're being foolish, Demacian. Your luck has run out. Maybe formal introductions are now in order… My name is Darius, the Hand of Noxus, and I will be leaving this cave a free man." 

Claudius looks between Eryn and Darius, his jaw has gone slack with shock. "This is a bluff. You can’t be..."

Eryn shakes her head. "He’s not. Let him go, Claudius. Let's just go home with our lives, please. It’s over."

Claudius suddenly charges forward towards the two of them “All the more reason we need to defeat him!" He shouts at the top of his lungs. He swings the hammer at the two of them, and Darius grabs Eryn by her waist and pulls her out of the way. Claudius collides with the wall and the entire cave shakes again. Except this time the shaking doesn't stop immediately.

Claudius doesn't notice this and swings again, “We can’t let the  _ leader  _ of the Noxian Army leave here! No Demacian will ever have a chance like this again!” Darius blocks with his axe, throwing Claudius backwards into the wall.

"Claudius stop!" Eryn pleads as the rumbling doesn't stop and dust begins to fall from the ceiling. He ignores her and throws another swing only for it to be parried again. 

The rumbling is getting louder and louder, and small rocks were falling from the ceiling. Claudius swings again, missing and hitting the wall, accelerating the shaking of the cave. A large boulder falls from the ceiling just missing Claudius, causing him finally to stop his assault momentarily. 

A second boulder falls, about to crash into Darius, but Eryn quickly grabs him and drags him backwards into one of the side corridors. The ceiling was caving in on the main cave corridor. “We need to move.” Darius states and begins to run down the side corridor, and Eryn follows him, as they both are dodging falling rocks from the cave in. She glances back over her shoulder, noticing Claudius hadn’t followed them, and her heart sinks seeing only rubble behind her. She swallows the lump forming in her throat and turns to look ahead to follow Darius, pushing thoughts of what happened to her brother behind her, as they venture further into the caves. 

When the rumbling finally stops behind them the two stop to catch their breath. The sounds of their heavy breathing echo through the tunnels. Eryn keeps glancing behind her, expecting to see her brother come jogging to catch up with them. Darius snaps her out of her thoughts with a question. “Is there a way out of these caves from here?”

“Claudius had mentioned all these side corridors do eventually loop back into the main corridors… but who knows how much has been caved in, and how long these corridors are...:” Eryn replies numbly.

He nods. “Then we should keep moving.” 

Eryn nods as well, readjusting her backpack and holding up the lantern as the two begin to walk deeper into the unknown. She pushes back the terror mounting inside her of being trapped in a petricite mine forever and the sorrow of not knowing what has happened to her brother. Darius walks in step beside her, resting his axe across his shoulders. She takes slight comfort in knowing at least she wasn’t alone… Even if she was with someone that has every reason to want to gut her where she stands. She wonders why he hasn’t yet...


	8. Chapter 8

Eryn isn’t sure how much time has gone by, it’s hard to tell in the caverns. The two are awash in the golden glow of the lantern but it doesn’t shine more than several meters in front of them. The white petricite walls have grown to look the same as the two march onward for possibly hours. 

Eryn grows weary as they march, from the trek and from the anxiety of the day’s prior events. Her heart feels heavy in her chest, like it’s made of pure lead, as her mind swirls with memories of her brother. She’s replaying their last confrontation over and over in her mind, regretful that possibly his final thoughts of her were her betraying him.

She doesn’t notice that she’s lagging behind Darius until he stops to turn to look back at her, standing at the edge of the lantern’s light. “What’s wrong?” 

She shakes her head, embarrassed that she was slowing him down, and quickens her pace to catch up with him. “It’s nothing.” She forces a smile, but his brow furrows as he observes her face. He’s not buying it.

“Let’s stop here then. We’ve been walking for long enough.” 

She wants to argue that she can keep going, but her legs ache and her eyes are heavy, so instead of protesting she simply nods and slides the backpack off her shoulders onto the ground. She rummages in it for a bit, pulling out the filled waterskin and the wool blanket. She spreads the blanket on the ground so they wouldn’t be sitting on pure stone and she sits down on it. Darius sits beside her, back resting against the cave walls, as Eryn takes a swig of water before passing it to him. 

She can't help but watch him out of the corner of her eye as he takes a drink, acutely aware of their current close proximity, their shoulders nearly bumping together. Her gaze drifts down his large muscular arm to his hand resting gently atop the handle to his axe. She's acutely aware of his commandeering presence even when at rest. The pure bulk of his muscles, how even now leaning against a wall he nearly towers over her. How the axe feels like a natural extension of his arm. The man is a force to be feared, and she's screaming at herself that she  _ should  _ fear him. That there was nothing stopping this Noxian from doing what Noxians do best, kill. 

However in their short time together she's seen him have those few moments of soft openness. She's been trying to dismiss those moments as manipulation, to gain her trust only as a means to escape with her guard down. But here he sits, a free man, with the power to kill her and enact revenge for his capture, and instead he shares a flask with her like they were friends,  _ equals _ .

The sound of him capping the flask brings her out of her thoughts causing her eyes to snap up towards the sound where they lock eyes. She quickly averts her gaze to look across from her, feeling her face flush red as she realizes he caught her staring at him. 

She can still feel his own eyes burning into her side, observing her, and feels the awkward silence building between them. She wants to say something, but is stumbling for topics now. Wondering how best to address their former dynamic as captor and prisoner, how to apologize for them even being in this messed up scenario as partially her fault.

"So... Was it my turn to ask a question?" Darius is the one to break the silence and the question causes Eryn to burst out laughing. Partially because of his awkward delivery and timing, but also because she had completely forgotten about their little game.

She glances over to see his mouth is curved upwards into a slight smile as he watches her laugh die down and she catches her breath. "I don't even know anymore honestly. I think we can just… talk and avoid the pseudo interrogations for now. And talk as… friends."

He chuckles, his low baritone voice reverberating off the cave walls, as he shakes his head with a growing smile. "I have been stationed in many places over the course of nearly two decades of service to Noxus, and I think this might have to be the one I will remember for being the most strange."

"Really? Noxian service must be boring if making a friend is the strangest thing to happen to you." She's smiling back at him now, a hint of teasing in her tone.

"It's more the ‘getting captured only to be freed by said captor and then trapped in a cave with them' that takes the cake."

"That still sounds quite boring. My brother once told me of a time he was stationed at a military encampment not far from the farm we grew up on, and it was about to be attacked by a crag beast, much larger than the one we fought, and it was taken down by a  _ single  _ yordle who then promptly left declaring the hero she's looking for wasn't there." She's smiling widely, remembering the day he told her that story when he was visiting home for holiday. How he practically re enacted the tale for her. And then she remembers how she probably won't ever see him again and her smile falters, as pain splits through her chest.

Darius watches her intently, his own smile replaced with a more concerned gaze. They both fall quiet for a few seconds before he breaks it. "Tell me about him, and growing up here. What it was like."

She thinks for a few moments, as childhood memories flood back, and she begins to recount them to him. Her first memories were of her teaching him how to milk a goat, and him spooking the poor critter and nearly getting kicked in the face. He never had a knack for the farming bits. He was always more interested in tales of adventure their father told them before bed. Of heroic deeds their forefathers did as former knights of Demacia. Claudius and her would re-enact those stories with sticks they'd find in the woods. 

Their farming town was located not far from the base of Fort Ironwood, and they always made a game of sneaking past the guards to go explore the woods beyond, and the guards always played along pretending not to notice them. When they got older and father would take Claudius on trips to the bigger Demacia cities to sell some of their wares to more wealthy buyers, it started to become a tradition that the two would go camping in the woods a few weeks before Claudius's big treks with their father. He always felt bad Eryn wasn't allowed to go with them for her own protection, there were far more mageseekers in the big cities, so he always made their camping trips a big outing. Just them two against the elements, forgetting about the threat of mageseekers even just for a small while.

As she recalls these tales of their childhood adventures Eryn can feel herself begin to lean against Darius's side, drawn to him like a magnet, seeking his touch for comfort. Her heart hurts as she realizes she won't be making anymore happy memories with him. As her head rests against Darius's shoulder she feels his arm wrap around her back to hold her waist firmly, his hand warmly resting on her hip.

She falls silent after finishing a tale about her brother bringing back souvenirs from the big city for her. "He was good to you. Looking out for you in a kingdom where few would have the guts to." Darius says.

She breathes in deeply, just now noticing her nose has stuffed up and her face was wet with tears. She had been crying. She wipes them away with her elbow. "Kind words from someone who I'm pretty sure hated him just a few hours ago."

Darius sighs and Eryn can feel his whole chest move with the motion. "I hate what he stood for. As I'm sure he hated what I stand for. But I don't hate  _ him _ . He was fighting for his homeland, a homeland I believe to be ruled by unjust tyrants but it's still his. Before my city was liberated by Noxus, Draven wanted to fight the invading legion as well, as foolish an idea it was. I take no joy in witnessing his untimely death, when he was just trying to carve a place for you and him in this backwards hell hole." Eryn flinches at the insult to Demacia, which doesn't go unnoticed by Darius. She feels his body stiffen. "Sorry I didn't mean it like-"

"No it's okay. I like that you're honest about your thoughts about Demacia. It's… it's helped me think about things differently. I appreciate it." She interrupts his apology and feels his muscles instantly relax. She wonders why he cares so much about what she, a nobody Demacian farmer, thinks about him.

They're both quiet for a while, Eryn comfortable with his warmth. His thumb resting on her hip runs circles over her skin absentmindedly, and Eryn enjoys the feeling. "When we get out of this… will you rejoin the Demacian army?" Darius asks.

She pauses to think. She had joined initially to protect her home from invaders. Her father had to abandon their home and move farther from the border, along with their friends and neighbors, in fear of the invading forces. The war will still be ongoing when she returns. But… the thought of killing Noxians indiscriminately,  _ people _ who were just like Darius, not the monsters from horror stories, made her sick to her stomach. "I'm unsure." She answers finally. "I could go home and continue my farm life, but the mageseekers might find me eventually… Or I could try to pick up where my brother left off, attempting to do a heroic enough deed that the mageseekers would be willing to look the other way from our family… but killing  _ people  _ just to give myself a better life... I don't think would sit right with me."

Darius inhales deeply, Eryn's head resting on the side of his chest moves with the motion. "Those are not your only choices." He says and Eryn turns her head upwards to meet his gaze, her eyebrows furrowed questioning what he could mean. He's looking down at her, his face has a gentle expression as his dark brown eyes observe her. When she doesn't answer he continues. "You could leave Demacia. Go somewhere your talents would be appreciated."

"Where? Noxus? And fight in more wars, killing more innocents?"

"Work as a medic. Heal the wounded. Bolster the legion with stronger soldiers. Or... just as a magician in the city offering services to the common folk. There are many ways you would be welcome in Noxus. No more mageseekers or petricite to hold you back. You could be yourself freely." Eryn pauses as she considers it. She hadn't ever considered Noxus as an option for her. But Darius's tale about Quiletta flashes in her mind and she hesitates, jaw clenched. Noxus isn't some fairy tale place where you could be  _ anything,  _ it clearly has its flaws, it's own monsters in the dark. She'd be giving up the only home she knows, her only family, to make a leap of faith that maybe this new land would maybe be a better place.

While Eryn debates with herself, Darius begins to sit up straight, removing his arm from around Eryn’s side, and she has to sit up as well to stop herself from falling to the floor. "I don't expect an answer now. We need to get out of here first after all. Sleep on it, Eryn." He picks up the rusty oil lantern and puts out the light, and the two are awash in the pitch black darkness of the cave. She can hear him settle down onto the blanket beside her, his back facing her. She feels disappointed at the loss of his warm touch, but she shakes that thought away before lying down as well, her back facing him, and letting herself be taken away by sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the smut zone this the smut chapter heck ye
> 
> Idk what I'm doing so hope you enjoy

Eryn's breathing is ragged as she runs as fast as her legs can carry her. The sounds of her bare feet pitter pattering across white cobblestone echoes throughout the dungeon she finds herself in. 

Her hands are shackled together with petricite, the chains clattering as she runs down the dungeon hallway. Behind her she can hear the clatter of armored soldiers, gaining ground. Eryn can feel her heart hammering in fear as she peaks over her shoulder. "Bring me that  _ witch,  _ dead or alive!" One of them shouts as they charge at her.

Eryn turns a corner, nearly slipping on the slip stone, and begins to climb a spiral staircase. The muscles in her legs protest as she begins her ascent, but she pushes through the pain. The soldiers behind her were practically on her heels, their arms reaching to grab her, but she's just out of their reach. 

After what feels like an eternity she reaches the top, exiting into a new hallway. At the end of it she can see light, daylight that nearly blinds her, and she feels invigorated, picking up speed as energy bursts into her legs, finally putting some distance between herself and the soldiers. 

Her heart sinks and she nearly skids to a stop, as outside she can see wolves, circling the exit of the dungeon. Their hungry eyes watch her as she approaches the exit. She slows to a stop, just at the threshold of the exit, unsure of what to do, of where to go.

A soldier grabs her by the arm, dragging her backwards, and as he does she jerks awake, her eyes flinging open. She's breathing heavily and her heart is beating fast, as she panics not knowing where she is. She can't see, blinking her eyes as she tries to process why she's only being met with pitch black. 

Her arms are wrapped around something large and firm, her fingers clutching into fabric. Her heart begins to beat faster as she realizes she's hugging onto a person, specifically Darius. At some point during her nightmare she had turned towards him and latched onto him instinctively. Her body is pressed into his, and her arms are wrapped around his torso. She feels a firm hand resting on the small of her back, and her head is tucked snugly under his chin with her forehead pressed into his collarbone. They are completely entangled. Her nightmare is quickly forgotten about as she now has a more pressing issue.

She wants to slink away, embarrassed that she had clung onto him in her sleep like a scared child, wishing that she could slide away before he woke up and noticed their position. What stops her is she notices how fast his own heart rate is, hammering directly into her chest, as his calloused fingers softly rub circles across her back in a soothing fashion. He was definitely awake.

"I'm sorry." She says softly, realizing she had probably disturbed him with her nightmares. 

"Don't be, I was awake already." Eryn can feel her face burning bright red, and is thankful that at least the darkness of the cave concealed it from Darius. She feels weak and helpless in this petricite cave, and showing that weakness to Darius is the last thing she wants to do. There is some part of her that likes whenever he's impressed by her strength, and that same part of her is self conscious about revealing weaknesses to him as well. Like she's worried he'd reject her if he deemed her too weak. 

As her thoughts race her heart is hammering and she's struggling to keep her breathing steady. His body is so warm pressed against her own, his hand still softly rubbing her back sends electricity through her veins. She's a complete mess and she can't figure out why, why being held in this Noxian's arms was turning her into goo. 

"Why were you awake?" She asks when she gets her breathing under control enough that her voice isn't shaking.

She feels his fingers stop moving as he goes rigid, debating an answer, and her heart sinks missing the feeling. "Had trouble sleeping."

"Missing the comfort of being tied to a tree?" She teases, knowing there was more to his answer but doesn't want to press if he doesn't feel like sharing.

He chuckles but doesn't answer the question. Instead he uses his elbows to lift himself up, her arms slide off of him and sit limply at her side as he leans over Eryn and reaches to turn on the oil lantern. She winces as they are enveloped in the orange glow of the lantern, her eyes taking a moment to adjust, before blinking and looking up at him. 

The lantern light flickers and dances across his features beautifully, highlighting his strong jaw and stern eyes. His raven black hair is messy and pieces fall across his brow, and his once clean shaven face is sporting some stubble. He's sitting upright now, not looking directly at her, their embrace broken. She once again feels sad for the touch being removed, longing to feel his hands roaming across her skin again. Guilt sparks in her chest, feeling like she was somehow  _ betraying  _ Demacia for having these thoughts. For even daring to think of  _ the _ Hand of Noxus in this way.  He settles back down after a moment, lying on his side using his elbow to prop himself upright, his eyes now settling on her. “What does it feel like being in here to you?” He asks. "Surrounded by this petricite?" 

Eryn is caught off guard by the question. She pauses as she tries to find the words to describe the sensation. "It sort of feels… like you’re drowning. Like you need to breathe but whenever you try to inhale, no air comes in. I feel numb.  _ Wrong.  _ I keep trying to summon it, just to feel it again, but nothing happens. I wouldn't wish this upon anyone..."

"Mm." He hums in response as she describes it. "I assume this is what being captured by the mageseekers would entail then."

"Yeah. I imagine so too." She nods, acutely aware of him analyzing her face. He doesn't have to say it, but his next question is implied.  _ Why would you risk staying here then, risk the capture? Risk this torment for eternity?  _ And she doesn't have an answer.

She instead rolls onto her side, back turned to him, staring down the deep cavern corridors as she gathers her nerves to ask a question that's been bothering her. "Why aren't you just leaving me behind? Without my magic in here, I'm useless. I'm not pulling my own weight... This isn't the Noxian way you've been telling me about. Noxians are only as strong as their weakest link after all… But here you are, letting your weakest link slow you down and keep you awake at night.” He doesn't answer, so she continues. "I don't understand you. At first I thought you just wanted to manipulate me so I'd let you go, which I suppose worked… but if that was the case you would have discarded me swiftly. Instead you protected me, and asked me to _join_ you. What do you see in me? Why do you care what I do with my life?"

He's silent, and Eryn wishes she was facing him so she could watch his expression, but her heart is beating so fast and that she doesn’t think she could keep a straight face for this confrontation. "Eryn, in the short time I've known you, you've captured  _ me _ -"

"I got lucky." She interrupts.

"You killed a creature the size of a building-"

"Because _ every _ child in Demacia knows a cragbeast’s weakness."

"You're currently giving the _ leader _ of the Noxian army  _ sass _ ."

"Well clearly  _ someone  _ has to." Both of them can't help but chuckle. Eryn can feel herself smiling at the sound of his laugh.

She suddenly hears him shift as he moves closer to her. "I can keep listing instances where I've seen great potential in you, reasons why I think it’s not just your magic that makes you strong." His hand slowly reaches over and traces her jawline, guiding her chin slowly upwards until they make eye contact. Her heart begins to hammer in her chest as her face turns beet red. His face is inches away from hers now. "But that's not the only reason I want you to come with me to Noxus…" The distance between their faces is closing as Darius slowly guides them together, only stopping when their lips are pressed against one another's. They’re kissing, lips moving against one another’s, slowly, almost nervously. Both tentative and somewhat unsure of themselves.

They shift positions so Eryn doesn’t have to strain her neck to reach him, Darius shifting so he's over her, one hand propping himself up and the other cupping her cheek. Eryn lies on her back, her own hand seemingly moving on its own as it snakes up the back of Darius's head and into his hair, running her fingers through the short black strands. Her mind is racing,  _ Darius  _ is  _ kissing  _ her. It almost doesn't seem real, but his tongue pressing against her lips asking for entrance reminds her it  _ very  _ much is, and she opens her mouth readily allowing him to explore. She can feel heat building in her core as their tongues dance and his hand begins to trail down her body, tracing her curves, stopping to rest on her hip.

He breaks the kiss, both of them take deep ragged breaths as they stop for air, and he rests his forehead against hers. “Tell me to stop and I will-”

“Don’t stop.” Eryn interrupts, she can hear her voice cracking in almost a whine. “I  _ need _ you. Please.” All of her anxieties, her fears, the looming threat of the mageseekers or the existential dread of this petricite cave, all of it was gone from her mind. She can only focus on how  _ good _ he feels pressed against her. The voice in her head screaming that she’s a traitor for this is completely ignored as Darius presses their lips together again. Every worry about her future just melts away. 

Her hands hike his tunic up and begin to explore his torso, admiring the firm curves of his muscles and small divots of scar tissue. One of his hands palms at her groin, causing her hips to buck at the sensation, desperate for more friction. His fingers slip down between her trousers, quickly finding her clit and deftly rubbing it in circles. She moans into his mouth, as pleasure begins to slowly ripple through her.

Eryn quickly grows annoyed at the amount of fabric still between them and breaks the kiss. “Off.” She demands but it sounds more like a plea as she tugs at his tunic. He chuckles as he sits up and slowly, almost painfully slow, pulls the tunic up over his head and tosses it onto the cave floor. This is the first time Eryn has seen him shirtless and her eyes trace his body, admiring his muscular frame. She follows suit, sitting up and tossing her own tunic to the side, exposing her breasts to the cool cave air. She feels her face flush red as she sees he’s watching her, eyes trailing over her skin. She pushes past her feelings of self-consciousness and undoes the ties holding her trousers together and kicks them off as well. 

Feeling far too cold and exposed to the cave air she climbs into his lap, straddling him and resting her arms on his shoulders. She can feel his erection pressing against her crotch through his trousers, and rolls her hips, grinding against it, eliciting a groan from him as his head lolls back from the sensation. “These are in the way still.” She says as her hands travel down to his waist, tugging at the hem of his trousers as she grinds against him.

Darius’s hips buck against hers as he lets out a low chuckle. “You didn’t give me a chance to get them off.”

“You were too slow.” She teases, an impish smile gracing her lips. 

“Or you’re too impatient.” He counters as one of his hands cups her breast and teases her nipple. Her breath hitches at the feeling and he wraps his other arm around her waist, lifting her up before repositioning them so she’s lying on her back. “Need to make sure you’re ready first…”

One of his hands returns to teasing her nipple, while the other ventures southward. He rubs circles around her clit again, causing her to whimper and bite her lip. As warmth radiates from her snatch she desperately craves him, wanting something to fill her. Almost like he read her mind one of his fingers begins to prod at her hole and she digs her fingers into the blanket she’s lying on. “Please!” She begs and he obliges, plunging one of his large digits in her dripping hole. He moves against her walls slowly, too slowly for Eryn’s liking, and she bucks her hips begging for more. It’s not long before he adds a second finger, and her breathing hitches. He pinches her nipple and curls both of his fingers, rubbing right up against her g-spot and she moans loudly. 

Suddenly Darius pulls back, leaving her feeling empty. She whines in protest, picking her head up to glare at him, to see him shedding his trousers. He leans back over her, and she can feel the head of his large erection poking at her groin. He has one hand firmly placed on her hip as he presses kisses to her neck. “Ready?” he asks her and all she can do is nod, she’s quickly losing her ability to form words as she slowly is coming undone beneath him. 

He presses into her, slowly, and Eryn cries out as she stretches around his member. He hisses as he presses onward, slowly filling her. “Gods you’re tight…” He says through gritted teeth and she whimpers again, her legs wrapping around his waist as her fingers grab fistfuls of the blanket. It feels like it’s an eternity before he reaches the base, his balls pressed against her bottom. They stay like that for a moment, both of their breathing ragged, as Eryn quivers beneath him. Then with quick grace, he slides out almost completely before slamming back into her. She moans loudly, seeing stars as warm erupts from her core. He rocks his hips into her again, and again, each thrust eliciting moan after moan from her. 

“Darius!” She cries out as his pace quickens, she can feel pleasure building in her core, she’s getting close. “Darius please!” she begs and he catches her mouth with a kiss. She moans into his lips, one of her hands slides into his hair. He breaks from her lips to trail kisses down her neck, his own moans rumbling across her skin. It’s not long before he hits her g-spot with particular force and she cries out, her walls clenching down on his dick as she orgasms loudly. Pleasure erupts through her body as he rides through it, his own pace becoming erratic.

Darius slows down, and with one final thrust he spills his seed into her, filling her to the brim with a loud moan. He pulls out, lying down at her side as they come down from that high and bask in the afterglow. She rolls onto her side, her arm wrapped tightly around his abdomen as they steady their breathing. One of his hands rests on her back, gently stroking her skin. Her head rests on his torso, and she can hear his heartbeat steadying as they lie there together. 

“I hope you know that, as great as that was, it won’t change my answer on whether I’m joining you or not…” She says breaking the silence.

Darius chuckles softly. “I’m unsure if I’d be disappointed if that’s all it took to sway you or if I’d be flattered.” He ponders, causing them both to laugh. When they both quiet down, he pauses before pressing her. “What is your answer then?” Eryn hesitates, still not sure. The fear of the unknown still grips her. He senses her indecision and continues. “Just remember, not making a choice is still a choice…”

She wonders what he means by that, as visions from her dream earlier in the night flash before her eyes. She pushes them away. She doesn’t have to worry about her choice right now, at least until they get out of this petricite hell hole… It’s not long after that the comfort of Darius’s touch lulls her back to a dreamless, peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the kind comments! I'm always bad about answering them unless I'm like, answering a question haha but I really do appreciate all of them thank you! They always make my day.


	10. Chapter 10

Eryn awakens to the lantern light flickering on and her eyes being flooded by the brightness. She squints and whines softly in protest. Darius, who had sat up to flip the light on, settles back onto the blanket beside her. His arm wraps tightly around her waist and he pulls her closely against him. "Why?" She whines burying her face into his chest.

He chuckles. "We should get moving soon." 

"Few more minutes." She pleads looking up at him and taking one of her hands and sweetly running it down his jaw line.

"You are quite the negotiator." The corners of his lips curl upwards into a small smile. 

She enjoys seeing the small reactions she can provoke from him sometimes. He always has such a serious look, trying to mask his feelings. But she likes seeing his walls come down whenever possible. When she touches him or when he speaks about his past she can see them crumbling ever so slightly. Especially after the previous night's activities. Knowing he _wants_ her has her so hungry for more. She desperately wants to see and know as much about him as she can _while_ she can. Her fingers trace upwards following the tough skin of the scar on his face, tracing it down his cheekbones with her thumb. "How'd you get this?"

He hums, closing his eyes. "Got it as a kid."

"When you lived on the streets of… Basilich right?"

He nods. "Yeah. Quil had managed to get a stranger to give her some coin, and her and Draven went off to buy a loaf of bread for us to split. Some older thugs stole the change from them, Draven tried to fight back but Quil pulled him out of there. She always knew when we both were getting in over our heads… They came back cut up and bruised but mostly fine. But I was angry. So later that day I tracked down the older kids and challenged their leader to a fist fight for the money. He agreed, but when he started losing he pulled out a knife and gave me that scar. Tried to take out my eye. Managed to still take him down despite that. But he had already spent the change for his own food he had eaten. So I took his knife instead and gave it to Draven."

Eryn watches his eyes go distant as he recalls the memory and his tone is somber. These certainly seem to have been darker days in Darius’s eyes. "How did he react to the knife?" Eryn asks.

His eyes suddenly light up and he chuckles to himself. "He hurt himself with it nearly immediately, he was so excited. It was his first knife I think, he was really young then. Later when Noxus invaded he used it to try to attack their commander." His tone is softer, fonder, as he remembers these stories.

Eryn laughs with him. "He seems like he was a handful."

"He still is." He's smiling again. Eryn enjoys the moment, wishing it could last forever. But it's over just as swiftly. "Alright you got me to give you _more_ than just a few minutes. We need to get moving and get out of here." He peels himself off of her, flinging off the blanket, and begins to get dressed. 

Eryn follows his lead, sliding back into her own clothes and packing up the blanket. She knows that it's selfish of her to rather spend their time like this than continuing to work on getting out of this cave. It's not that she doesn't _want_ to get out of here, the petricite hell they've found themselves in is definitely her definition of a living nightmare, but there is something simpler about it. The closer they get to finding an exit the sooner she has to make a decision about if she will stay in Demacia or go with him to Noxus, and she's still torn. She wants to selfishly have him without having to make a choice. But she knows that's not fair. 

So they trek on together, side by side. She stretches her arms with a yawn as they walk. She feels much more well rested, despite her stomach growling in protest at the lack of food. The pangs are a reminder of the dire situation they've found themselves in. Her thoughts drift to what her brother would think, if he saw her now. If he knew she seriously is debating joining the Noxians…

"What does Draven do? Is he a commander too?" Eryn asks after they've been walking for a bit, wanting to not have to think about her own internal dilemmas.

"He was in my warband for a bit when we were younger. He tells everyone he left on his own, but I had to dismiss him. He was too self centered, didn't care about his fellow soldiers, only about his own achievements. He’s carved his own place in Noxus now as… an entertainer is the word for it. He leads the Reckoners, gladiators who fight for gold and glory." Eryn can tell that his feelings seem more mixed on Draven’s current line of work. He’s trying to choose his words carefully, but she can see he’s holding back snide comments.

“You don’t seem to like the Reckoners.” Eryn notes.

“I... see their utility. Crime has gone down in the capital as we get more fighters in the pits, because now they’re not out attacking civilians for their pocket change but earning their own coin. But I don’t enjoy glorifying the bloodshed. Combat is not something to be gawked at,” Darius sighs before continuing. “But, less fighters die now and it’s become more about the _fighters,_ and their personas. So I can’t complain all too much about it.”

“Does he know you have some distaste for his line of work?”

“Yes but he doesn’t care. As he shouldn’t. It’s his life, and he was miserable when he was in my warband. Now everyone in Noxus knows his name, which is really what he’s always wanted. He doesn’t need my approval.” Darius is eying her curiously as they walk. He’s watching her expressions, trying to read her. Trying to see what the meaning behind this line of questioning is.

Eryn is grateful he doesn’t press. She chews on Darius’s words for a bit. She admires the relationship the brothers seem to have, of having the respect to disagree but still be close. To go their own ways and still be happy. And it dawns on her that the relationship she had with her brother, while loving, definitely lacked this element of respect. If Claudius didn’t like what Eryn was doing he would move heaven and earth to find a way to get her back on the ‘right path’ regardless of Eryn’s wishes. She just thought he was protective but… she wishes she could have had a relationship more like these brothers. But it’s too late for that now anyway. 

* * *

Eryn is uncertain how many days go by. They’ve stopped to sleep four times, but who knows how much time has truly passed. Without sunlight to track it, Eryn truly has lost her internal clock. The two just walk until they get tired, then pass out in eachothers arms, and then awaken and get walking again. 

After their fourth “night” sleeping in the cave the lantern doesn’t light, they’re out of oil, and they have to continue their trek in the dark. Eryn traces the walls of the cave with one hand, and keeps a second grasping Darius’s, afraid of losing him in the darkness. Their fingers interlock and the touch is comforting, as the lack of sight slowly fills her with anxiety.

Eryn can feel herself growing weary when suddenly the wall beneath her fingers vanishes. She stops, and feels around for it, realizing they’ve reached a sharp intersection “Darius-”

“I know, it’s like that on this side too.” 

They pause. Unsure of which way to go. “I think the original offshoot that we dived down was to our left… So if we’ve looped back to the main hallway we’d go left to go to the exit.” Eryn says as she debates their choice of path.

“Are you sure?”

“Not completely… That fight with the cave-in was disorienting but… I think that’s what happened.”

Darius squeezes her hand reassuringly. “Well I trust you.” And he turns down the left corridor.

She follows, feeling her face flush and is thankful he can’t see it now. She supposes she trusts him as well. It’s a strange thought, to think that she trusts a Noxian with her life, and he trusts her with his. 

* * *

They walk for what seems like hours, following the winding curves of the cave. Eryn starts to feel dread building in her chest, thinking maybe she really has gotten disoriented, when she starts to notice that she can make out shadows and shapes in the cave again. Just enough light to be able to make out the white petricite stalagmites above them. She blinks a few times to make sure she wasn't imagining it. They make it around a sharp bend in the cave, and at the end of it Eryn can see _moonlight_ pouring in from a large threshold not far from them. She can hear the sounds of the forest wildlife, night birds and cicadas chirping, and the wind howling, all calling to them. She can't help but laugh in pure delight, squeezing Darius's hand tightly. They've made it.

Eryn takes off at a run, not able to contain her excitement any longer, and practically leaps as she crosses the threshold into the outside world. She breathes deeply, letting the warm summer air wash over her. As she steps free she feels her veins suddenly course with a warm fire. It burns, but in a good way, as she reconnects with the magic inside of her. 

Darius is at her side moments later. He's looking down at her smiling wide, it's probably the widest she's seen him smile. Usually when he does it's small, and gentle. But even he seems to be overwhelmed with joy. His hand cups her cheek and wipes away tears that Eryn hadn't even noticed had been streaking down her face. "We made it!" Eryn exclaims, her voice shaking from the emotions overwhelming her. She takes a deep breath trying to regain her composure as Darius chuckles affectionately. 

Their moment of bliss is swiftly interrupted by the sounds of the forest brush rustling around them. They break away from each other, Darius raising his axe in preparation. Slowly figures emerge from the woods. Over a dozen soldiers dressed in Demacia garb surround them. They wield a mix of weapons from crossbows to swords and shields. 

A much more imposing figure approaches them, breaking the formation. He's a broad shouldered middle aged man with golden hair and well groomed goatee. He sports white armor trimmed with bright gold accents. In one hand he carries a lantern, illuminating the forest around them. She can see his other hand is wearing a large gauntlet made of heavy white material. His armor is adorned with golden crests depicting a shield entrapped in flames. Eryn recognizes the emblem as the family crest for the Whitburns, the Lords of the Moors. The family that had replaced hers as the owners of this chunk of Demacian land when the Moorehearts were ousted nearly a century ago. It was a tale her father would tell her often, to never trust a Whitburn. They're prominent mageseekers and scoundrels. Usurpers and tyrants. That one day the Moorehearts would take their land back from them. 

Upon recognizing him a plan forms in her head, and she immediately bows. "Lord Whitburn." She slyly elbows Darius, hoping he would follow her lead. He hesitates, but imitates her motion, lowering his axe and bowing. 

Whitburn doesn't react to the motion. Instead he poses a question. "Who are you and what is your purpose for being in this warzone?"

"We're first infantry soldiers, fleeing capture from the front. We were in the battle of Fort Ironwood. We watched it fall to Noxian Warmachines and had to flee through these mines. There was a cave-in and we nearly died. We're just trying to return to our unit, sir." Eryn lies, hoping the half truths she sprinkled in would be enough to sell it. 

Whitburn's eyes look Eryn up and down before turning his gaze to Darius. His gaze settles on the weapon. "That is an intricately made weapon for a simple foot soldier."

Eryn looks up to Darius, waiting for his response. "Picked it up off a Noxian." He keeps his gaze steady and expressionless. 

Whitburn's gaze flicks back to Eryn. She swallows a lump in her throat, feeling sweat run down the back of her neck. Whitburn pauses before he says anything, the moment feels like an eternity as anxiety builds in Eryn’s chest. She struggles to keep herself looking calm and collected as Darius beside her. 

“You two are not the first soldiers from the front who came from this cave.” He says finally.

“Oh? Really? What a coincidence!” Eryn says trying to play dumb, fearing where this could be going..

“Yes. A young man arrived at my keep about two days ago. He told me he came from this cave, and he had left behind his younger sister and a prisoner in this cave, separated by a cave-in. Except this was no ordinary prisoner he said, this was _the_ Hand of Noxus.” Whitburn’s eyes flick to Darius who stiffens. Eryn’s blood runs ice cold. Claudius. He was _alive._ “He begged me to send men to find his sister and the prisoner, thinking they could be alive. Ordinarily I’d dismiss these claims as a madman’s ramblings… But the Noxian scouts we’ve captured and tortured have been claiming they’re searching for their missing general, who was not in our custody... So I gathered my men and arrived here just a few hours ago, and set up camp in these woods with the intention of scouting the caves in the morning. And then to our surprise you two come tumbling out of this cave, matching the descriptions that young man gave us. So… Young Mooreheart I believe was what he said your name was... Are you _sure_ the story you gave to me earlier was the truth?”

Eryn balls her hands into fists, eyes scanning the over a dozen soldiers surrounding them. She can feel her legs shaking, they haven’t eaten in days, she isn’t sure the two of them could take out this many trained Demacian soldiers with just the two of them. Maybe this is the end for them…

While she’s hesitating, Darius charges at the closest soldier, burying his axe into his neck and the body falls limply to the ground. The soldiers with crossbows open fire, several bolts bury themselves into his shoulders. He grunts in pain but continues going, swinging his axe wide and it slams into a second soldier sending him careening into a tree with a sickening thud. Darius is panting heavily, clearly worn out from days of tough travel, but not backing down.

“Of course the Noxian turns to violence... Keep him alive if you can, he has information we could find useful.” Whitburn commands and the swordsman charge, ignoring Eryn who seems much less threatening, and surrounding Darius.

Eryn springs into action, grabbing the sword dropped by the first dead soldier and charging forward. She plunges the sword into a soldier who stands between her and Darius and shrugs his body out of the way. One of her hands comes alight with green flames, and she quickly tosses the magic towards Darius as he parries a sword blow from a Demacian. Darius is engulfed in magical flames, and he grins wildly as he swings wide with his axe, cleaving through the men like they’re wet paper. His newfound magical strength invigorates him as he charges at a crossbowman, shrugging off bolts like they were just annoyances, and buries his axe into his head.

Eryn slings more magic towards Darius, keeping the strength buffs up and healing what wounds she can, but she loses track of Whitburn in the process. She doesn’t notice until it’s too late the hulking Demacian charging at her. She attempts to dodge his gauntleted fist but is too slow and Whitburn lands a powerful blow to her face, sending her staggering backwards. “Your brother didn’t mention you were a witch. Not that it matters to a mageseeker.” He taunts.

She spits the blood pooling in her mouth into the grass, rage building in her like fire. The flames engulf her own arms, invigorating her own muscles, as she swings with the sword at Whitburn. He blocks with his gauntlet with a grin which Eryn doesn’t quite understand, until she sees her magic begin to flicker and her newfound strength fades. The realization dawns on her too late, the gauntlet is made of petricite. Whitburn shrugs off her attack with ease, staggering her, and he takes the opportunity to grab her by the throat with his gauntleted hand. He slams her into the ground and she gasps, the breath being knocked out of her. His cold gauntleted fingers curl around her throat, pressuring her airway and she sputters. She kicks out trying to squirm away, her hands claw at the much larger gauntlet gripping her neck. She tries to summon her magic but can’t, the petricite gauntlet blocking her access to it. 

“Give up little witch.” Whitburn demands, his face sneering down over her. Suddenly his gaze shifts across the battlefield and he tightens his grip on her neck. She gasps in pain, clawing at the gauntlet again as she struggles to breath.”Not so fast Noxian or I snap her neck like a twig.” Darius must comply, because the grip loosens enough that she can breath again.

“Release her!” Darius’s voice demands. Eryn cranes her neck to see him. He’s coated in his own blood and the blood of the soldiers. His panting heavily, holding his axe threateningly. A few swordsmen remain, standing in a stance ready to charge at him, but seem shaken by the massacre they just witnessed. “I said release her or I’ll gut you where you stand Demacian swine!” 

“How interesting.” Whitburn muses. “You _care_ for her. Even the strongest man in Noxus has a glaring vulnerability…” 

Eryn watches as Darius’s eyes fill with pure rage, but he’s still complying, standing still and gripping his axe tightly until his knuckles turn white. “Release her.” He repeats again.

“You’re in no position to make demands, Noxian. I’ll release her if you drop your weapon and surrender.” Whitburn commands and she sees Darius’s jaw clench tightly as he weighs his options.

“Darius don’t you can’t-” Eryn tries to protest but she’s cut off as Whitburn retightens his grip cutting off her airway. 

Eryn hears the clatter of the axe being dropped onto the forest floor, and she coughs as the grip loosens enough for her to breathe again. “She leaves unharmed.” Darius demands.

“We have a deal.” Whitburn says with a victorious smile. Eryn’s heart sinks, her eyes prick with tears as she struggles against the Demacian holding her down. She feels more helpless than she did in the petricite cave, unable to help Darius. Being the reason for his downfall. This can’t be the end for them, she tells herself as she grits her teeth and glares at Whitburn. She _won’t_ let Darius die for her. She _has_ to find a way out of this… for both of them.


	11. Chapter 11

Eryn is still in Whitburn's grasp. She steadies her breathing as she stares him down. She can feel her heart beating as adrenaline rushes through her, itching to fight. But she's seen already how futile it is. So instead she watches his movements with burning hatred.

Whitburn seems unbothered by her as he orders his men to shackle Darius in steel manacles. He watches with a muted look of triumph. Eryn watches as well, craning her neck to see him. She can see how hard it is for him to stand still as they tighten the manacles around his wrists. Once shackled, one of the soldiers tugs on the chains to urge him to take a step forward. Another soldier stands beside him, sword at the ready if he tries anything. She catches his gaze. His face is stoic, jaw clenched slightly, but his eyes soften the smallest bit when meeting hers. Her thoughts start to race as she sees him, standing tense yet still tall. Somehow still looking as strong and prideful as the first day she saw him on that battlefield. The thought that this is the last time she will see him looking like this enters her mind, and she’s suddenly seeing red.

Desperation takes over and she kicks at Whitburn with all her strength. His grip loosens slightly, his guard down, and she slips out briefly. She breathes deeply, gathering her magic as she feels it rush through her veins and throwing a punch at his face. She hears something crunch and he cries out. He's not staggered enough though and he counters with a crushing blow to her own face with the gauntlet. Her vision blurs as she's stunned, her head aching and blood rushes from her nose. Whitburn takes the opportunity to get his grip around her with the gauntlet again, this time holding her with much more pressure and she's struggling to breathe. "Bring me a pair of petricite shackles for the witch, she doesn't know when it’s over." 

“You said you’d release her!” She can make out Darius protesting, as her consciousness begins to slip away. Her limbs go limp at her side.

“I will, when I have some insurance she won’t be a problem going forward.” Whitburn replies. She vaguely can feel something grabbing her wrists as her vision goes dark. The last thing she sees is Whitburn sneering at her as she passes out.

* * *

Eryn sputters awake, alone in the dirt outside in the woods. She sits up, feeling the heavy weight of the petricite shackles holding her wrists together. Whitburn is gone.  _ Darius  _ is gone. She looks around, seeing they had the decency to leave her backpack of supplies with her. 

She struggles for a bit to get her bearings. She can only separate her wristed by about half a foot before the petricite chains prevent further movement. Picking things up and moving them around proves to be awkward. She fumbles with the backpack before having to completely untie the straps and retie them just to get it slung over her shoulder before she can start walking.

She has a general idea of where to go. Whitburn’s keep was a few days trek north of Fort Ironwood. And the cave was somewhere between the two. So if she heads north she will eventually be able to see it looming in the distance. Which must be where they’re taking him.

She has no actual plan. It’s suicidal. But she’s made her choice. That she wasn’t going to let Darius die for her freedom, it’s why she didn’t decide to turn him in no matter which nation she decided to live in. 

She knows that Darius would want her to leave, go to Noxus, continue his fight for him. But knowing that Darius is going to be executed, or worse, because of  _ her,  _ is why she has to go and at least try to save him _.  _ Because  _ she  _ had taken him captive, and then  _ she  _ held him back in the fight against Whitburn. This is  _ her  _ fault and she is going to make amends, or die trying. 

She’s hungry, but wouldn’t be able to hunt for creatures with these manacles preventing her movement. She picks handfuls of berries from bushes she passes, which is enough to sate her starvation from the caves. She walks under the moonlight for what feels like eternity, fueled by her newfound goal.  _ Find him, find him  _ is what echoes in her mind, her mantra. 

Eryn’s so self absorbed in her hunt she doesn’t even think about  _ her  _ being hunted until she sees shadows moving in the corner of her eyes. At first she dismisses it as the exhaustion making her mind play tricks on her. But then she remembers where she is exactly. An active war zone between Noxus and Demacia. Both sides would have scouts in this area, trying to find enemy information. 

She feels herself tense up. She has no weapons. No magic. She’s defenseless. So when the shadows move again, she swings wildly with both of her hands, only to collide with a tree.

Sweat drips down the back of her neck and her breath quickens. She had been sure this is where she saw the movement.. She takes a step forward, but is suddenly yanked backwards by her hair. She cries out and tries to struggle but a blade is put to her throat. She stills immediately, heart beating fast in her chest. She can see in the moonlight the steel blade is intricately made. “Are you a Demacian?” A feminine voice hisses into her ear. Eryn hesitates, unsure what answer would be the least to get her killed. Her captor seems to sense her hesitation. “I’ll only kill you if you don’t answer me.”

Eryn swallows the lump in her throat. “Yes.” She answers quietly.

“You a soldier?”

“I was.”

“Then you’re coming with me. Do everything I say and I won’t slice your throat.” Eryn’s hair is released, and the knife on her neck is slowly removed. A hand is placed on her shoulder and she’s roughly turned around. “Walk. If you make any sudden moves, you die.”

Eryn complies and walks where her captor leads her. She can’t get a good look at her, she’s always standing behind her, directing her movements. But when Eryn notices that they’re now heading  _ south  _ she has a pretty good idea of this person’s allegiance. A Noxian. 

She debates telling her what she knows. But would this person actually help her save Darius? She knows that many Noxians would take the opportunity to kill him. Tie up a loose end and create a power vacuum for themselves. Also she has no reason to believe her. It’d sound insane. 

The sun is just starting to break over the horizon when they enter a campsite. Two tents, no fire pit. “Wake up!” Her captor orders, but it doesn’t seem to be directed to Eryn. “I found another one for you. Maybe this one will know something useful.”

There’s some grumbling and the sound of a blanket rustling before a man exits one of the tents. He’s tall, broad shouldered and muscular. Her eyes immediately are drawn to his face, which sports a striking moustache and angular tattoos streaking across his cheekbones and chin, trailing down his neck and biceps. His spiky brown hair is held back by a golden circlet with a green gem in the center, matching his bright green eyes. His expression is bored as he exits the tent, he plays with a dagger in one hand as he looks her up and down. “This is the best you can find?” He asks, looking past Eryn towards her original captor.

“The unassuming ones are often the ones with the most to tell.” She shoves her roughly causing Eryn to stumble forward. She’s just a few paces in front of the moustachioed man. 

“The shackles are a bit much for her, she looks like a gentle breeze would blow her over.”

“Found her like that already.”

“Ah, an escaped prisoner?” The man’s gaze returns to Eryn, more intrigued now. 

“Don’t kill this one too quickly.”

Eryn bristles, whipping around to face her. “You said if I did what you asked you wouldn’t kill me.” Eryn glares at her, finally getting a good look at her. She has flaming red hair flowing down her back and is cloaked in tight leather. A scar runs down her face, and she has a smug expression as her green eyes stare down Eryn. 

“I said  _ I  _ wouldn’t. No promises with  _ him _ .” 

Eryn grits her teeth before slowly turning her attention back to the man. He’s still absentmindedly twirling a dagger around his finger. “What do you want to know?”

“Alright lady, here's your one warning. You lie to me, you get an axe to the face.” He sits down on a log not too far from his tent. She notices the large blades leaning against it, now within arms reach of him. “How long have you been in the Demacian army?”

“Not long. I enlisted when we heard that Noxus was preparing to strike.”

“You a footsoldier?”

“Yes.”

“Fight on the frontlines, at that big fort?”

“Yes.”

“How did you get from there to here, did you retreat before they breached the fort?”

“No. There are… ways around the fort. Not everyone knows about them.”

“And that’s how you got here then?”

“Yes.” Eryn barely has time to process if her answers are satisfactory to him, his line of questioning is rapid. An onslaught.

He lets up for a moment, his eyes looking past her at the woman. “I told you.”

“I never said it  _ wasn’t  _ possible there were ways around the fort. But it’s walls run from mountainside to mountainside. Getting around it without one of our scouts knowing was unlikely.” The red head argues back defensively. Her smug expression falters.

“Our men spent nearly  _ two weeks _ looking in the wrong spot. I come in and take over, and we find a lead in just days.” He gestures to Eryn as his voice begins to raise.

“ _ I _ found her.” Eryn feels a little bit awkward, standing in the middle of their argument.

“Because  _ I _ said we should look over here!” He points at the ground. “You’ve been wasting time looking for a corpse-”

“His armor was found on the other side, what were we supposed to think?”

“You think he’d die that easily? To  _ Demacians?” _

“Draven, I didn’t say that-” Eryn’s eyes light up as she recognizes the name. It can’t be.

The two bicker back and forth while Eryn’s thoughts race. This could be  _ any  _ Draven. Maybe it’s just a popular name in Noxus. But he’s looking for  _ someone.  _ Someone important, and he seems desperate to find him. Can she trust him, truly? But what choice does she have?

“Can you just ask her where to find the shortcuts around the fort? Stop wasting time if you care so much about it.” The woman snaps at Draven.

Draven’s stutters, realizing he was in fact wasting time. He turns his attention back to Eryn and looks like he’s about to ask her a question, but Eryn cuts him off. “She said your name was Draven right? You’re  _ the  _ Draven?” She remembers Darius telling her he was famous in Noxus.

Dravens eyes light up and he grins wildly. “I see my fame is spreading! Even Demacians know me now!” She has to stop herself from rolling her eyes. 

The red head seems less impressed, and more weary. “How do you know his name?”

Eryn hesitates, anxiety building under their gazes. She prays that for once she’s making the right decision. “Darius told me about you. You’re his brother right?”

Draven falters, the dagger nearly fumbling out of his hand. “Is this a joke? How do you know who… Kat she’s a spy right that’s the only reason she knows-” He’s reaching for his blades.

Fear grips Eryn as she sees him reach for the weapon. “I swear to you I am not! I am not here to infiltrate or lead you on the wrong path or whatever it is you think!”

“Prove it, or I’m going to coat this forest with your blood!” Draven is standing now, holding the blade by the handle, he rolls his arm and it begins to spin in a circular motion.

Eryn is holding up her hands, trying to appear non-threatening, as she racks her brain to figure out what she can say to appease him. “You both grew up in Basilich, orphans-”

“I know my life story, how do  _ you  _ know it?”

“He told me! About you, him, and Quil, growing up on the streets together!” She sees the anger in his face falter at the mention of Quil, and she pushes forward. “Your first dagger was a gift, he won it in a fight and that’s how he got that scar on his face!”

Draven lowers the spinning axe, his eyes scanning her face, a confused expression on his. “Why would he tell you that?” The question is more rhetorical than anything.

“He trusts me! If you let me out of these shackles I swear I can help you find him.” Eryn pleads.

“Draven this is some sort of trick.” The red head, Kat, warns. Her own daggers are out.

Draven’s eyes flick between Eryn and Kat, before resting on Eryn. He drops the axe and holds her gaze. “Darius trusts her.” He repeats. “Get her out of those shackles,” He turns to Kat for a moment as he says that before back to Eryn, “And  _ you’re  _ gonna tell me _ everything _ .”


	12. Chapter 12

Two days after his capture Darius arrives at the keep Lord Whitburn seems so proud of. A hulking structure plopped atop the Demacian hillsides. The roads up the hills are steep, and as the forest begins to thin as they march up he can see why the Lord of this province set up here. He can see the expansive fields below them that range for miles, farmland and forest alike. Beyond the forests he can see nestled between two cliffs what must be Fort Ironwood. The walls that once kept invaders out reduced to rubble and the Demacian flags replaced by the familiar crimson banners of Noxus. He can see they've been making advancements towards the Whitburn Keep, but the signs of battle seem to stop at the hill base. The machines can't easily traverse the height and the high ground gives Demacian archers and silverwing riders the advantage.

Darius's mind shifts to battle plans as he walks, what he would have been commanding his men to do if he were with them, but his focus is pulled away by Whitburn yammering about some lore of the Demacian land he cared little for.

"...and then when the traitorous Moorehearts were hoisted from the throne my family took over as the new Lords. And the land has seen prosperity ever since." Darius perks at hearing Eryn's surname. He mostly has tuned out Whitburn's history lessons. He cared not for it. Over these two days he hasn't spoken a word to the Demacian. Refusing to give him even a glance. Whitburn notices Darius's expression change and chuckles "I nearly forgot your little mage friend was one of their descendants wasn't she? Had she not told you her family's tragic tale?"

Darius had never cared to push further than what Eryn had elaborated on already. He knew her family once had been nobility of these lands and had been driven out. But family history had never interested him, he cared more for the present. Something about nobility has them obsessed with the actions of the dead. 

Whitburn doesn't seem bothered by Darius's silence and is happy to prattle on about Demacian history. "Under the reign of Jarvan the Second, the kingdom had been dealing with mage insurgents causing mayhem across the kingdom. It was the last straw for the Demacian people and so magic practice was outlawed. The Moorehearts began secretly allowing them to reside in their land. My family, who have been mageseekers for generations, were tasked with disposing of the mages. The Moorehearts had their men fight back, so our family removed them from their keep, and the royal family bestowed the land to us for our family's loyalty. The Moorehearts were allowed to live, but lost everything. They were told if they were ever caught harboring mages again the seekers would not be so kind as to let their bloodline live." Whitburn explains as they approach the gates of the keep. 

"How fitting to see that not only are they still harboring magic, within their own bloodline no less, but one of them once again betrayed Demacia to protect an enemy instead." Whitburn muses as his gaze turns back to Darius, observing his reaction. Darius keeps his face stony, but every fiber of him wants to lash out. But he knows it's futile, at least for now. Not that he hasn't tried.

After they left Eryn, shackled and alone in the woods, his anger was burning inside him. He made several escape attempts whenever they attempted to feed him, ending in a broken arm for one of Whitburn's men, which ended Darius's "food privileges." So he still hasn't eaten since before entering the caves with Eryn, and his body is starting to feel the effects. He feels weak, when just a few weeks ago he probably could have easily taken Whitburn and his men without breaking a sweat, even with his hands shackled. 

Whitburn practically parades him through the keep as they walk through the stone halls. Any soldiers or servants they passed would straighten into salutes, all sending weary looks towards Darius, as they descend the stairs into the dungeons. 

They’re a few floors below the main entrance to the keep when they finally lead Darius into a hallway lit only by torchlight. It’s dark and damp in the cobblestone halls, as they lead Darius through the dungeon. He peers into the dark cells as he passes them, curious to see what company he had down here, but was surprised to see them empty. At least on this floor, he was completely alone.

The Demacians chain him to the wall of the cell, restricting his movement so that he could do nothing but sit on the floor, his arms being held up above his head by his wrists. “Hope you’re comfortable there, Noxian. This is your life from now on.” Whitburn taunts as the cell door slams shut. 

* * *

Darius loses track of time in the dungeon very quickly. They bring him food maybe once a day, it’s hard to tell, which he always rejects. They then will send someone down to question him a few times afterwards, whom he always ignores. Sometimes it’s Whitburn, often it’s another soldier who Darius doesn’t care to learn the name of. He spends his alone time resting his head against the back of the cold cobblestone, lost in his thoughts. He replays everything from the moment he met Eryn until now, wondering what he should have done differently. The first point was obvious, not let the siblings capture him in the first place. He shouldn’t have let his guard down no matter how meek the Demacian soldier had appeared in comparison.

The thought then dawns on him that he never would have gotten to know Eryn then, and his heart aches at that thought. None of their evenings together, that seem so long ago now, would have occured. He almost feels nostalgic for their initial arguments with each other. His mind drifts to their first night in the cave together, how for just a brief moment nothing mattered. How he could forget about war, about survival, about everything except for the two of them together. How beautiful she was beneath him. It’s been so long since Darius has been able to feel like that with anyone. Someone he could feel he could let down his walls with, even the smallest bit. 

His mind wanders, like it often does when he thinks of Eryn, to Quil. He wonders what she’d think if she could see him now. The thought causes him to chuckle to himself, realizing she’d probably see this as some sort of fitting karma for his past. She wanted him dead in the end after all. 

* * *

He’s been offered at least 3 meals, he isn’t sure how many days that means he’s been here, when he’s awoken from his sleep from the feeling of the keep shaking. At first he thought it was under attack, but as he listens to the noises, it becomes clear it’s the sound of thunder shaking the keep. The hope he had felt begin to bubble in his chest is quickly popped and he leans back against the dungeon walls in disappointment.

The thunder distracts him for a moment from the sound of footsteps approaching his cell, until he can hear someone clearing their throat to get his attention. His eyes flick forward to the cell door, and is surprised to see a familiar face there. Claudius Mooreheart. He’s standing somewhat meekly at the door to his cell, wearing a clean blue tunic with the Demacian emblem embroidered on it. His right arm is bound with gauze and hung in a sling, and he leans on a crutch nestled under his left armpit.

“Hey.” Claudius greets, wiggling his fingers in a feeble wave. Darius doesn’t respond to him, eying him suspiciously. When he doesn’t get much of a reaction Claudius sighs. “I’m supposed to be the last attempt of getting information out of you before they start torturing you. For some reason Whitburn thinks you’ll talk to me. I already told him you hate my guts, he doesn't seem to believe me.” 

Claudius pulls up a stool that the other soldiers who have visited him have often sat in when they did their line of questioning. Darius watches him as he struggles a bit with the action due to his injuries, before eventually the stool scrapes into place and he relaxes into it. “Lord Whitburn barely told me anything you know. I didn’t even know you were even here until yesterday. He ‘doesn’t know if he can trust me’ but if it weren’t for me he never would have found you.” 

He rambles on and Darius just has an eyebrow quirked in curiosity as he does. Claudius seems frustrated,  _ desperate  _ even. “So now they tell me it’s  _ my  _ job to extract information from you, as a chance to prove I’m still loyal to Demacia.” Claudius scoffs to himself and rolls his eyes. “Everything I’ve done has always been for Demacia. And it’s left me with nothing. They stripped me of my rank. My sister is missing. And I might be arrested for  _ treason  _ if I can’t convince a Noxian to offer up information to the detriment of his own people.” 

Darius watches as Claudius talks at him. There’s something wild to his eyes. It seems he hasn’t gotten a chance to vent about this to anyone, he probably feels alone here. It seems ironic that the only person Claudius feels he can confide in is _ Darius _ . “So I already know you. I tried to get you to talk to me for days, and you only would talk to Eryn. I  _ know _ this is futile. So I’m not going to waste my breath on their list of questions I’m supposed to ask. There’s only one thing I care about now.” Claudius leans forward, his face nearly touching the bars of the cell. “What happened to Eryn?”

Darius wants to ignore him, out of spite mostly. There is a part of him that despises this man with a passion. But, Darius can see this isn’t the same man he left in the caves. He’s at the end of his rope, his faith in his own countrymen faltering. They sit in painful silence for a long time. Claudius waits patiently. He doesn’t push, he just waits as Darius mulls it over. Darius breathes deeply before responding. “I traded my freedom for her life. They left her at the mines, but in petricite shackles so she wouldn’t try to rescue me with magic.” Darius can hear his voice crack from the lack of use. It’s been days since he’s spoken to anyone.

Darius sees the tension release from Claudius, as relief washes over him. “She’s alive.” He mumbles breathily.

“The last I saw her, yes.”

“Why would you do that for her? Not that I’m complaining I’m just… confused.” Claudius asks.

The image of Eryn pinned by Whitburn flashes into his mind. Her struggling to breath, looking so fragile beneath him. Her eyes flashing with rage and fear. He remembers how in that moment, it had taken him back to Basilich. To Quil refusing to surrender in front of him, and how he refused to make her. To how his inaction caused their daughter to take the situation into her own hands. How Quil bled out in his arms, due to him. He’s quiet for a while, clenching his fists as any explanation he could have dies in his throat. He always has struggled with putting his feelings into words, preferring to declare them with actions. Fortunately for him it seems like Claudius is able to glean enough from reading his face. Claudius’s face softens and he breathes out shaking his head. “I see.”

They’re both silent then. Claudius is looking at the ground, thinking about the new information revealed to him just now. Darius just observes him before Claudius speaks again. “She revealed she was a mage protecting you didn’t she? That’s probably why Lord Whitburn mentioned history repeating itself or whatever…” Darius simply nods and Claudius sighs again, running his hands through his short brown curls. “I’ve worked so hard to try to redeem our family name. And in an instant it’s gone…”

Darius laughs. “Even after all this, you still don’t see it.” Claudius looks at him confused. “This obsession with bloodlines, nobility, and status. It’s your downfall. And it  _ will  _ be Demacia’s downfall. If you were a Noxian,  _ your  _ actions would speak louder than the past of your family’s actions. Your loyalty is rewarded in Noxus, not punished.”

Claudius’s eyes light with rage. “Your deceitful words may have worked with my sister, but not me. I won’t fall for it. Don’t act like you’re better than us.”

Darius laughs again, the sound sharp and mocking. So stubborn. The siblings both seem to share that trait. But Eryn at least has the sense to see how her kingdom has wronged her. He can only hope that she took their words to heart, and escaped Demacia and headed for Noxus. A place he knows she can carve a home for herself. He just wishes he would get to be there to see it. 

Claudius’s brow furrows and he stands up. “We’re done here I think. I got my answers. Good luck with Whitburn in the morning. I don’t envy you.” He hobbles off and Darius listens to the sound of his wooden crutch and his footsteps clicking across the cobblestone dungeon floors. Darius leans back against the dungeon walls, letting his mind wander to thoughts of home as the thundering of the storm above ground lulls him back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyones comments and kudos so far honestly mean the world to me. I'm glad that people are enjoying this lil self indulgent adventure of mine! I usually don't respond to comments unless I have something to say other than thanks because, idk, part of me feels weird "inflating" the comment number because I like seeing it go up with comments from everyone else lol. It's such a weird hangup I have, but I really do appreciate all the comments even if I don't respond because I'm a weirdo! Thanks so much and hope you keep enjoying it!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If kindness could kill, these comments would have KILLED me. Y'all are so sweet I can't handle it. Thank you all so much again for the kind words <3

Eryn is woken up from her sleep by a rough hand jostling her awake. She jolts up instinctively, terror gripping her as reality comes rushing back to her. She feels the tension leave her body when she recognizes her surroundings. She’s in her tent, and Draven is looking at her with a slightly bemused expression. “Alright Mooreheart it’s your turn for watch. I need to catch up on my beauty sleep.” 

“Really?” Draven hadn’t let Eryn take any watches in the past 5 days they’ve been together. He rotated with Katarina and made Eryn sleep the entire time, saying she was more likely to get them killed if she left her in charge of watching their backs. It had stung, but she was grateful to finally have a few full nights of sleep.

“Yeah. Just remember what I said about being alone with Kat. If she comes back from the infiltration, just don’t talk to her until I get up.” Draven replies with a yawn. “Now shoo, we got a big rescue mission comin' up and I need to make sure my brother doesn’t see me with bags under my eyes.”

Eryn rolls her eyes as she exits the tent. She can feel the hot humid air rippling with energy as dark storm clouds above her roll in. Orange light from the setting sun filters through the forest canopy above, but it's quickly being snuffed out by the incoming weather and the encroaching night. 

Eryn sits on a large rock in their little campsite, picking up a piece of dried jerky from their supplies and chewing on it as her eyes are trained on the foliage around her, alert for any sounds or movement. They're very close to Whitburn's keep, which means they've already had encounters with Demacian scouts. They’re just a few hours below it, hiding in what remains of the forest. The terrain is getting rockier and the trees more sparse as they get close to the hillside stronghold.

Katarina had been sent ahead to infiltrate the keep ahead of them, look for secret entrances and any information about where Darius is being held. Draven had noted Katarina is an expert on infiltrating Demacian strongholds unseen, but she’s never had to extract a prisoner from one before. Noxians typically don’t care for their captured, if they were weak enough to get captured then they don’t deserve rescuing.

Which is why Draven and Katarina are keeping this operation so small. No backup. It’d be seen as pathetic that they’re even attempting this rescue mission. Katarina seems to not even want to be here herself. Eryn’s caught the two bickering in hushed whispers when they thought Eryn was still sleeping. She managed to make out Katarina seeming to ask if Draven will hold up “his end of the deal” when this is over. She couldn’t make out Draven’s response, but Katarina didn’t seem entirely happy with whatever it was.

Eryn sighs, picking up a sword that Draven had looted from a Demacian corpse just yesterday. He had handed it to her saying she can use it to “make herself useful.” The two Noxians, while seeming to dislike each other, there at least seems to be some mutual respect for each other's abilities. But both of them look at her like she’s a burden. Neither completely confident in her abilities. Eryn runs her fingers over the hilt of the sword, feeling the smooth metal beneath her skin. A part of her distantly misses the simpler times of being a goat farmer. 

The soft sound of metal clinking against metal makes Eryn sit up. She whips around, sword at the ready, and scans the forest for the source of it. Eryn relaxes when she catches who it is. Katarina. She’s still dressed in a Demacian uniform she had looted from a Demacian soldier a few days back. Her wild red hair is balled up into a bun tucked beneath a steel helmet; her lithe figure no longer accentuated by tight leather but instead hidden by bulky chainmail and a blue tabard. “Relax Mooreheart, it’s me.” Katarina says as she approaches the camp, rolling her eyes. 

Eryn lowers the sword as she walks by. Katarina rips off the helmet, letting her red locks cascade down her back. Draven’s words echo in her head. _Don’t tell her a single thing. Don’t even talk to her. She’s a Du Couteau, she’ll look for any information she can use as a weapon against us. She’s dangerous but she’s all we have to work with right now._ That’s what he had told her on the first day, after Eryn had told Draven a summary of what Darius and her had been through together thus far. He had sent Katarina away for the duration of the retelling, much to her annoyance, and Eryn had to give him the story in hushed whispers in case she was listening from the shadows. 

Eryn hates this game the two are playing. She hates keeping basic information from Katarina. They’re supposed to be working together. She hates how Katarina looks at her with annoyance _on a good day._ So she ignores Draven’s voice ringing in her head and takes a deep breath before speaking up. “How’d it go?”

“Fine.” Katarina’s tone is sharp. Already they’re off to a _great_ start.

“What did you find?” Eryn presses. Katarina unsheathes one of her daggers and twirls it through her fingers. A silent threat. Eryn ignores it and continues on. “We’re allies right? Why are-”

The word allies sets her off and she gives Eryn a cold stare. “We’re not allies.”

“We’re working together towards a mutual goal. That sounds like we’re allies to me.”

She scoffs. “You’re such a Demacian.”

“What do you mean by that?” Eryn feels annoyance bubbling in her chest and she has to remind herself to keep calm, but it's difficult when Katarina is looking at her with a cocky smirk. Like she was some child too dumb to see the meaning behind her words.

“I mean that you’re naive. Foolish. To think that I’m here _helping_ because I have a choice. I’d be happy to see all of your heads on spikes, displayed upon the battlements of Noxus Prime for all to see. I am not your ally.” 

“Then do it. I’m sure you have the talent and the resources to make that happen. What’s stopping you?” Eryn pushes. 

Katarina clicks her tongue. “Tsk. You really want to know so bad huh? Think you can handle your new best friends’ dirty secrets?” Eryn holds her icy gaze, unflinching despite the taunts making her stomach churn. 

“Fine. Maybe you’ll get some sense and run back home to your cushy Demacian family where you belong. These boys aren’t the heroes or liberators they want you to believe. When Jericho Swain came into power, Draven executed every single noble family who voiced dissent. When Darius returned from the Freljord, his duty was to kill the usurper, but instead he took _his_ side and is now one of the three most powerful people in Noxus. He rejected his duty to his people, just for power. That’s the kind of people you’re so quick to betray your _own_ people for. Murderers. Traitors. Men who will do anything, sacrifice _anyone_ to attain power.

“And so here I am. Forced to serve the Trifarix or risk my family being culled by Draven and his Reckoners. And that’s the _least_ of the threats Draven is holding over head. You think you’re escaping tyranny yet are so quick to brush elbows with the tyrants of Noxus.” 

The air is thick with tension as Katarina falls silent. Her words cut deeper than her daggers. Eryn’s fears about Noxus not only being brought to the forefront, but those fears being put to Darius’s face. Part of her desperately wants to believe it's a lie. Eryn’s nails dig into her palms as she mulls over the accusations. “You don’t know him-” 

“And _you_ do? How can you be sure he isn’t using you and your magic? You’re just a tool for him. You mean _nothing_ to him. You’re such a Demacian. To believe that a Noxian actually _cares_ about you.” Katarina snaps, her tone is like a venomous snakebite. The words make their way to her heart and Eryn’s jaw clenches as doubt clouds her mind. She really _doesn’t_ know Darius. She thinks she knows him, but she supposes she only knows the man he wants her to see. But… if he really only cared about her for personal gain, why would he save her? It doesn’t add up...

“Can you stop _projecting,_ Katarina? Or at least do it quieter. I was trying to sleep here.” Draven scolds, yawning as he steps from the tent he was sleeping in. Katarina stiffens, her face turning a deep scarlet. Neither Eryn or Katarina had realized how loud they were talking.

“Draven-” Katarina sputters but Draven swiftly interrupts her.

“Maybe I should tell our new friend _exactly_ why you’re so cranky about being here-”

“You say one more word and I cut your tongue out.”

“You and I both know you won’t. You _can’t._ At least until Darius and I get back to Noxus Prime.” Draven stares down Katarina, a look of confidence painted on his face. Katarina grits her teeth but doesn’t argue further. She merely sends icy glances at the both of them. “Good. Alright let’s debrief since I’m up anyway. What did you find?” Eryn feels the tension leave her body and lets a breath out she didn’t know she was holding. 

“He’s being held on the deepest level of their dungeon. High security guards the staircases down. He’s refusing to give information, so there’s _some_ silver lining there.”

“Any secret entryways into the keep? These old places are full of contingency escape routes to protect their nobles.”

Katarina shrugs. “I didn’t find them myself, but there are rumors about there being a deeper level to the keep below the dungeons. Some sort of catacomb belonging to the previous owner. But no entrances can be found in or out. Some kinda ghost story shit Demacians love to believe. Something about ‘only the blood of the founders can find safe passage through’ or something. Who knows if they even exist.”

“Most ghost stories have kernels of truth.” Draven muses. 

“Well, if they do exist… I know where to find that blood.” Eryn pipes up. Draven and Kat both turn to her with confused expressions, having been ignoring her for the entirety of the debrief. “My family built that keep. It’s ours by blood. If those catacombs are real, my blood can grant the passage.”

Draven grins wildly. “You just got a whole lot more interesting little mage. Why aren’t you currently Queen of that castle then?”

“We were deemed traitors and were run out. My father told me not all of our family survived, most slaughtered by the Whitburns in the assault on the keep.”

“If I was a betting man, which I am by the way, I’d put good money on these catacombs being the reason any of your family escaped at all.” Draven runs a hand through his moustache as he thinks. Suddenly darkness falls over the camp, as the storm clouds that have been lurking finally creep in and hide the remaining light. The wind picks up and distantly Eryn can hear claps of thunder. “Alright. I have a plan.”


	14. Chapter 14

"Hit me harder! Is that all you got?"

_This is a horrible plan..._

**Smack!**

"I said _hit_ me not slap me! Mooreheart, we gotta make this look believable!" 

_Maybe the worst plan in the history of plans…_

The rain is just starting to pick up. Eryn is dressed in Demacian armor that Katarina had procured for her. Chainmail, a blue tabard, and a helmet with a visor to hide her face. Draven stands in front of her, hands tied in front of him with rope, his face turning pink from the slap. Even though she knows he's pushing her to hit him, her heart has a hard time hurting someone who's helpless. "If I was a real threat you'd be dead Mooreheart." He taunts. 

"I know but-"

"Pretend I'm that Whitburn guy. Or fuck, pretend I'm _Katarina._ You looked like you were ready to bite her head off earlier."

"I mean-"

"It didn't take much for her to get under your skin huh? Her suggesting we might be the bad guys really bothering you?"

Eryn hesitates. "How much of what she said is true?" She asks.

"Give me a good black eye and maybe I'll answer you." Draven offers. 

Eryn grits her teeth and clenches her fist. She closes her eyes, trying to not think of Draven standing there, looking helpless. Looking like _Darius_ when Whitburn had taken him. Instead she imagines Whitburn's smug face looking down at her, and rage burns in her bones and she swings _hard._ Her fist collides with flesh and bone, and she feels him stagger back a step. "That's more like it!" Draven says through gritted teeth. "Maybe open your eyes next time, you almost missed me. I had to step into it." He says as he laughs.

Eryn does and sees him smearing the blood from his nose onto his forearm. His eye is already turning red, hopefully it'll swell up noticeably by the time they reach the keep. Eryn has to hold back an urge to rush over and heal his wounds. _It has to look believable,_ she repeats to herself. "Is that enough?" She asks.

"Should be. Let's get moving before it starts pouring." He says gesturing with his head for her to lead the way. 

They start their trek up the hillside. Eryn can already feel the rain beginning to seep through her armor, dripping down her back. That combined with the wind picking up causes shivers to run down her spine. "So…" Eryn says, eying Draven walking beside her.

"So…?" Draven echoes. Eryn raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah. Your question. Yeah, some of it’s true. Some of it’s her being bitter and twisting it. Most of it is her just trying to provoke reactions out of you."

"Why me?"

"Because you've clearly gotten close to Darius. You represent a weakness to him. Something she can exploit for information to maybe find more." Draven elaborates, yawning at the seemingly dry conversation topic.

"Why would you trust someone to come on a rescue mission if she wants him dead?"

Draven laughs like it's a dumb question. "That was some of her bullshit to provoke you. She's pissed at me right now, but she doesn't hate us." 

"You told me not to trust her though!"

"You can't trust _anyone._ People who are your allies today are your enemies tomorrow. Kat and the Du Couteaus have shown their loyalty to the Trifarix sure, but things can change any day. You can't give anyone anything they can use to take you down." Draven explains and Eryn groans, frustrated with him. "If knowing this bothers you that much you could always stay here. Keep listening to Demacian propaganda. Keep believing lies like that everyone here has your best interests at heart. Keep pretending you can trust everyone just because they wear your nations colors." His voice takes a mocking tone and Eryn frowns. 

" _That_ doesn't bother me. _You_ bother me." Draven laughs again, grinning wildly, like he takes pride in being obnoxious. His laugh is contagious, and even though his tone was getting on her nerves she can't help but grin as well. He's a ball of energy, and she can see why he must be a well liked figure in Noxus. "Is this how you got Katarina pissed at you? You talked down to her until she wanted to gut you?"

Draven's grin falters a bit. "Nah. She just was on her own mission before this, but I pulled her off of it with a bit of… convincing… to get her to help me out with this. She wasn’t too happy about it, but I needed her help so..." 

"...Did you _blackmail_ her?" Eryn looks at him seriously now. Smile and laughter gone. She really wants to know if this is something he'd stoop to.

Draven doesn’t look at her. "Let's talk about something more interesting than this boring shit. Like me!"

Eryn tries to stop him from changing the subject, but he talks over her, stubbornly insisting on talking about his greatest moments with the Reckoners. Eryn resigns herself to the fact that this is how the rest of their trek is going to go now.

* * *

They spend the next few hours climbing the hillside to the keep. Eventually the looming stone walls are just a few hundred meters away. A steel portcullis looms before them, with two guards on the opposite side eying Eryn and Draven as they approach.

Eryn glances at Draven. His face has swollen slightly from the punch earlier, the skin above his cheekbone a reddish purple and his eye is half closed from the swelling. She glances back up the hill and lowers the visor of her helmet, concealing her face, and roughly tugs Draven forward. "Hey-" he protests

"It has to look convincing." She hisses back, echoing his words from earlier.

He rolls his eyes but let's himself be dragged by Eryn. The two are completely waterlogged at this point. The rain had picked up considerably, and Eryn is now drenched to the bone. Eryn approaches the gate with Draven in tow, anxiety starting to build in her chest as she remembers how her _last_ attempt at lying to a Demacian soldier went. 

"Halt." Says one of the guardsmen when she's a couple meters from the portcullis. "Who is that with you, soldier?"

She stands at attention when he asks her to halt. "A Noxian sir. Caught him lurking around the keep sir." She tugs Draven forward to present him to the guard. He dramatically stumbles forward, glaring at Eryn before staring down the guardsman.

The guardsmen whisper something to one another before one nods and walks off into the keep. "Wait a moment. He's getting our superior." 

Eryn stands still at attention, unsure if rain or sweat is trickling down her neck at this point. _This is a horrible plan…_ She repeats in her head as it takes a painful long time for the second guardsman to return.

Eryn has to stop herself from sighing in relief when the guardsman returns with a much larger Demacian. He's garnished in the house emblem and colors of the Whitburn family, but is much younger looking than the lord who captured Darius. A younger sibling perhaps. He has long golden hair that sticks to his face from the rain. 

The guardsman who remained at the post salutes the new arrival. "Sir Mournflame.” Eryn notes the name difference, deciding he must be a cousin instead of a sibling to Whitburn.

"What have you found?" Mournflame asks as he directs his gaze towards Eryn. 

Eryn bows before responding. “Sir, this Noxian was scouting the outskirts of the keep.” She’s thankful that he’s not Lord Whitburn, she had been nervous that he would be able to recognize her and catch her in a lie. _Again._

She’s not looking at Mournflame directly but she can tell when he falls silent that he’s looking Draven up and down. “He’s… dressed interestingly. No uniform… Who are you exact;y?”

“The name’s Draven.” Draven accentuates the ‘a’ in his name, letting it hang in the air for a bit. Eryn screws her eyes shut, grimacing at his actions. _“I’m a great actor!”_ He had told her when explaining his plan. Eryn is starting to think it’s not the case. “Noxus’s strongest gladiator! Leader of the Reckoners! Brother to The Hand of Noxus! Release me now, and I _might_ show you some mercy.”

Silence falls over them as they digest his words. Eryn is so glad the helmet is hiding her face. Thunder claps overhead before finally Mournflame bursts out in laughter. “This Noxian believes he is in the position to be _bargaining._ After getting captured by a mere _footsoldier.”_ He gestures to Eryn. “This is rich. Bring him in, he makes some bold claims for his stature. Let’s see if he speaks the truth about his relation to our other guest. This fool might have some use to us.” 

The guards raise the portcullis and Eryn roughly shoves Draven forward. “Walk on scum.” Eryn growls, feeling guilty as she does. They enter the keep’s boundaries, the portcullis slowly lowering behind them. The steel chains, wooden levers and pulleys loudly clunk against eachother before finally settling back onto the ground with a large thud. It shakes the dirt beneath her feet, nearly causing her to stumble. She feels herself tense up, realizing exactly where they are. In an enemy stronghold. With probably hundreds of soldiers in the halls, all trained to eliminate threats, without realizing they had willingly granted entrance to those very threats.

Well... The first step of their plan is working. _Surprisingly._ But she can’t help but feel like they're marching to their own funerals...


	15. Chapter 15

Eryn trudges behind the Demacians and into the keep. It's well lit with torchlight turning the grey cobblestone a pale orange. The Whitburn family crest is embroidered on large tapestries and hung all over the entry hall. There are a handful of soldiers walking about, some on their way to swap guard posts but most seem to be winding down for the night. 

"We can take him from here, soldier. You should get some rest." Mournflame tells her. Eryn nods and watches as they march Draven down a hallway to the west. Eryn waits before quickly heading down the east hallway instead. Katarina had given them a basic layout of the castle before they had set off. She skitters down the halls, trying to not let her anxiety show in her stride.  _ I have to look believable.  _ She echoes to herself, trying to keep her chin up and not look how she  _ feels.  _ Like a lamb locked in a cage with hungry lions.

She passes barrack after barrack, room after room, soldier after soldier, before she thinks she spots what her goal is. Tucked back into the corner is a staircase, not lit by any torches, and only goes down. She’s about to begin her descent down them when a voice directly behind her nearly makes her jump out of her skin. “Are you going to the catacombs too?” She spins and sees a young demacian soldier behind her. He has a round face and short brown hair, and there’s a look of fear mixed with hope in his eyes. “Sorry didn’t mean to spook you… Are you doing the... whatever it’s called… The rite of passage?”

She nods slowly. Kat had mentioned that the soldiers here all told ghost stories about the catacombs, of  _ course  _ they would make some sort of hazing game out of it. They did it at Fort Ironwood too, she just managed to avoid it during her short time there. “Yeah.” She says finally.

“Same here. This might not be so bad with someone else here! I’m Vincent Shepard.” He says with a relieved smile.

“Sarah Fletcher.” Eryn has to stop herself from swearing out loud. She had been hoping this area would be empty to give her time to find the secret passageways. Now she had a tag along...

They descend into the dark stairway together. Their footsteps echo off the stony walls. He’s just a few steps behind her and she can practically feel him quivering in fear. “So has anyone ever actually seen ghosts down here?” She asks.

“My uh bunkmate Donald heard some uh footsteps when nobody was down here when it was his turn. This was just the other night.” Vincent replies, his voice cracking a bit and he's starting to adopt a bit of a stutter.

They reach the bottom and the darkness encases them, the inky blackness making the air feel thick. Eryn momentarily feels like she can’t breathe, as the feeling reminds her of the petricite cave. She nearly reaches for her magic to summon it, to make sure she still can, but stops herself remembering Vincent beside her. She steadies herself against the walls instead as she walks forward. “How long do we have to stay down here for them to be satisfied?”

“L-long as we can. Donald says if you manage to make it the whole night, your captain owes you extra drinks.” He replies, almost standing directly next to her. 

“Are there actual dead bodies down here?” 

“T-they say this level was reserved for uhm... servants and guards to the former owners who had earned special burial rights for their service. F-favored cooks and such. The actual former uh Lords and Ladies, nobody c-can find their bodies. It’s why there’s rumors t-there’s secret passages down here where the rest are uh... buried.” Vincent talks as Eryn presses deeper, her hands running along the cool cobblestone beside her. “W-we don’t have to go any deeper than where we were y-you know!” He calls out as he realizes she’s walking away without him. 

“I know I just… I’m curious you know?” She says hoping that would be enough to satisfy him.

He laughs nervously. “Y-You’re braver t-than I, maybe you should sign up for the Sentinels when the fighting is done.” 

Eryn keeps walking, but she pauses when she hears footsteps. “Vincent is that you?” She calls.

“I-I haven’t moved an inch, Sarah!” He calls back and from how distant his voice is she knows he’s telling the truth.

Eryn’s blood runs cold. Someone else really is down there with them. She can hear the footsteps, uneven and almost scraping against the cobblestone flooring. It’s distant, but she’s definitely not imagining it. She steps forward again, still running her hands along the wall, when her fingers collide with something not made of cobble. The rough feeling is that of an unlit torch. Before she can process that though, it comes alight. Not with the typical orange flames of regular fire, but a bright green that matches the flames of her magic. She winces at the sudden brightness, and the catacombs are awash in green light. She can see hatches where caskets of servants are stored, and the plaques with their names.

Before she can fully take in her surroundings she hears Vincent scream and the sounds of his feet scrambling up the stairs. “PHANTOM!” He cries out as he exits the catacombs in a spectacularly loud fashion. She looks down the hallway, which now every 10 or so feet there’s a torch lit with green flames, and at the end of the hall sees a long shadow, cast by  _ someone,  _ but she can’t see who. 

She feels frozen in place, her breath catching in her throat as fear grips her. Perhaps the rumors are true, it  _ is _ haunted by the remains of her family. The shadow is shifting, like it’s a person getting closer. Then a  _ person _ turns the corner and Eryn’s shoulders slump in relief before remembering these are supposed to be a deadend, and nobody’s actually supposed to be down here according to Katarina’s information on the place. It's still hard to make out who they are in the dim light, but they seem to be walking with a crutch or a cane, dragging one foot behind them with some difficulty.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to be down here.” Before the person can even finish speaking, Eryn recognizes the voice. It’s one she could not possibly forget. Her  _ brother’s.  _ She moves without thinking, running forward and as she does she can make out his features. His broad shoulders, curly messy dark hair, his confused face that slowly contorts into one of shock as she steps into the light where he can see. “Eryn?!” 

She practically leaps up enveloping him into a hug. “Claudius you’re  _ alive!”  _ Tears are welling up in her eyes and she has to stop herself from sobbing.

“So are you!” He hugs her back, his chin resting on her head as he holds her tightly. “What… What are you doing here? How did you get here? Why are you down  _ here _ ?” 

The situation they’ve found themselves in floods back to her. She’s not here to reunite with the brother she hadn’t seen since she had thought he died. She’s here to save a Noxian. His enemy. She stutters, her voice dying in her throat, as she struggles to come up with an explanation. He pulls back and looks down at her. He studies her face, seeing how her own contorts as she desperately tries to find something to say. "You're here for  _ him. _ " Claudius states simply. His tone turns from affectionate to bitter as he does.

"Claudius…"

"I should have known. I didn't think you'd stoop to this, but I should have. Eryn this is  _ beyond  _ treasonous." 

She takes a step back, brushing his hand off of her as she does as rage is stoked in her like fire. "You think I don't know that already? That I made it this far without knowing exactly what I'm doing?"

"Do you really? Do you know the price of what you’re doing? They’ll kill you Eryn! You’re throwing your life away for some Noxian! Do you not see how foolish that is? We could have turned him in, together. We could’ve been heroes Eryn. Do you even know what your actions are causing? They think I’m a traitor! I’m going to have my title stripped, I might end up in the same dungeons he’s in, because of you!" 

His words strike her harder than he ever could with a warhammer. She feels off kilter as he shouts at her, the tears that had built up in her eyes spill down her cheeks, pooling along her jaw as she grits her teeth. When he finishes shouting she clenches her fists and stares him down directly, her voice quivering with anger. “ _ You  _ might end up in a dungeon? Claudius, I’ve had that fear for _years_! These people want mages like me to burn at the stake! I could never be their hero. Your plan was never going to work Claudius! I’m never going to be accepted here, no daring deed during a war will change what this kingdom has felt about people like me for centuries! When are you going to realize this?” Her chest is heaving as her voice raises, she watches him flinch backwards, like he hadn’t expected her to lash out

“I could never betray Darius, not after he’s saved my life  _ from  _ these Demacians. He traded his life for mine. I can’t sit here and see a man who saved me rot in a dungeon! I can’t go back to my farm life knowing it cost him his freedom. I can’t go back knowing my freedom is entirely dependent on making sure no one knows exactly who I am. I can’t live here anymore! I can’t support this nation! How do you not get that? How can you be my brother all these years and not understand why I’d be doing this?”

Claudius isn't making eye contact with her. He's staring at his feet like a scolded child. His one arm is in a sling and she notices the crutch under his arm, and for a moment he looks pathetic, and it hurts to see him like that. The anger leaves her body and is replaced with despair. It fills her heart like lead. She approaches him again, her hands lighting up with green flames that she presses to his face. His eyes flick up to meet hers as the magic envelops him, mending his broken arm and hurt leg. He leans down pressing his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry." His voice is cracking and tears run down his cheeks as well. "I wanted to change things for us so badly. I thought this would be it. I was so sure..." His tone is defeated.

She pulls him into another hug, she holds him tightly against her, letting more tears swell and drip down her face. "I know. I know you did. I wanted it to be just like the fairy tales dad used to tell us. But it’s not." She pulls away. “I need to go to him. Please don’t try to stop me.”

He laughs but through the tears it's a sad sound. Almost pained. "I don't think I could if I tried…" He breathes deeply, wiping the tears away. "I'll show you the way to him. That's all I'll do to help." She looks up at him curiously. "I've spent some of my time here… exploring. This place was owed to us after all. And when I heard the rumors of passageways that only those with the blood of the founders could enter… I couldn't resist."

"That sounds like something  _ I  _ would do, not you." Her tone is slightly teasing now that the argument has ended. It's strange how easy it is to fall back into their sibling banter. 

"You're rubbing off on me after all these years." He jests back and begins to walk down the halls. "I used them to go talk to him tonight. I was supposed to interrogate him under supervision tomorrow, but I knew he'd never talk to me if they were there. And I had some personal questions to ask him…"

"You're  _ really  _ starting to sound like me now. Maybe I can convince you to come with us to Noxus..."

"My place is still here. I can’t give up on Demacia. I want to make it better." His eyes are serious, and she wants to try to convince him that this place is too far gone. The cancer of hatred in this nation is too strong. But she doesn't want to argue with him anymore. She's lucky her stubborn brother is willing to help at all. "The Whitburns have been withholding information from me. About  _ you.  _ I was desperate. So I went behind their backs, yes." 

They turn a corner and they're met with a dead end. The cobblestone wall has a passage carved into it.  _ Only blood of the founders may gain entry.  _ The stones are scuffed, like people have tried to damage the walls before.

Claudius holds his hand to the wall, and it erupts into green flames, dissolving into ash in front of them like it had been made of wood and not stone. "Follow this to the end and it'll take you to the dungeons. One of these offshoots leads you out of the castle as well but I'm not sure which." Beyond them the tunnel continues as if the wall had never been there. Eryn steps over the pile of ash tentatively. 

"Thank you." She whispers. "I hope to see you again one day. Not as enemies."

He smiles and it's a sad one. "I think it is you now who is believing in Dad’s fairy tale endings." Moments later the ash reforms, rebuilding the wall between them brick by brick until its completely reconstructed. 

She sighs shakily before jogging down the corridor, leaving the wall and her brother behind.

* * *

Her feet pound against the hard stone floors, her legs aching as she carries on through the catacombs. Green torch after green torch passes by her and it feels like eternity before she reaches what she hopes is the dungeon exit. She presses her hand just as Claudius did to the dead end. She feels it hum beneath her fingers before catching alight and turning to ash in front of her. 

Eryn steps forward into the golden glow of regular torch light. She’s standing in the middle of the dungeon. There’s empty cells to her left and right and she slowly begins to make her way through the halls, glancing tentatively into each cell. They’re dimly lit and hard to see all the way into the back of, so she stumbles when she finally passes one with a slumped figure in it. Her heart is nearly beating out of her chest as she peers inside, recognizing the broad shoulders and raven black hair of Darius. He’s chained to the wall, his head is lolled back and he appears to be sleeping.

She wants to call out to him, to run to him and break him free of the shackles, but the heavy sound of a steel door scraping against cobblestone makes her ice run cold. Footsteps, several pairs, are approaching the cells. Eryn quickly scurries back and ducks into an open holding cell. She presses her back against the cold stone walls and tries to still her breathing as what sounds like several men enter the dungeons. 

“Noxian wake up!” She hears a familiar pompous voice demand as the steel bars of Darius’s holding cell shake.  _ Whitburn _ . “It’s time for you to talk. And we have some… incentive for you this time.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm on twitter now! https://twitter.com/GoblinBridge
> 
> I'll post updates and things as soon as they're out and also sometimes I do art too! I'm working on making some art of Eryn eventually haha and I'm way more responsive on twitter than here so check me out if you wanna! 
> 
> Thanks again everyone for the support! This community has been so supportive it warms my heart so much. Hope you enjoyed the chap see ya next update!


	16. Chapter 16

The harsh clanging of metal as his cell door shakes startles Darius awake. His eyes flick to see Whitburn at the door to his cell. He's saying something and trying to appear to be threatening, but Darius doesn't care to listen.

He yawns lazily, knowing that his threats are meaningless. Nothing the man can say or do will get Darius to betray his country, so he's just wasting his breath.

Whitburn is flanked by two Demacian soldiers and he barks an order to one, who quickly fumbles with the key to the cell before it swings open with a harsh creak. Whitburn approaches, a look of smugness painted across his features that Darius so badly wishes to mop off. 

"Sometimes I think you've gone deaf, Noxian, with how little you respond." He says as he kneels beside Darius. His hot breath brushes against Darius's face causing him to jerk back away. Whitburn's fingers snake into his hair and grabs a fistful of it, his fingernails dig into Darius's scalp. "I'm tired of this cold shoulder you're giving me. Your blatant disregard for your own life is growing dull." He slams Darius's head into the cobblestone.

The corners of Darius's vision burn bright white as pain shoots down his spine. He grits his teeth and bites back a grunt of pain, refusing to give Whitburn any satisfaction. "I could kill you now. Your life is in my hands and you don't even care. So loyal. Your  _ brother  _ not so much. He's quite the opposite to you isn't he?"

Fear shoots through his veins and he chokes on his own breath.  _ Draven?  _ It couldn't be. He's brash but he's not an idiot. "Liar." Darius hisses through his gritted teeth. 

Whitburn laughs, the sound an obnoxious piercing sound in his ear. "Finally some spark!” He releases his grip on Darius’s hair and stands, turning as he does to the two guards standing by the bars still. “He thinks I’m a liar! Why not show him our guest.” 

Another Demacian wearing similar regalia to Whitburn’s steps into view. At his side is another guard, and in between them shackled in similar manacles to his own is his younger brother. Draven. His face is swollen and his lip is cut, but other than that he looks mostly fine. His mouth is gagged tightly with cloth, but even then he’s sporting his signature cocky smile through it and Darius can’t help the rage that builds in his chest. The idiot. The absolute idiot. He  _ knows  _ better. Yet here he is not even looking ashamed. Every fiber of Darius’s being is screaming to shake him, to scold him like Draven’s a child in trouble and Darius is the disappointed parent. “That’s not my brother.” Darius lies, desperately trying to convince even himself that this wasn’t happening right now.

Whitburn laughs again. “Your eyes betray you, Noxian.” Whitburn kicks Draven’s legs out from under him and places his boot on his face. Darius can’t help but instinctively lurch forward, only stopped by the shackles holding him back. 

“He’s not even a soldier. Not anymore. Are you really going to stoop to harming a non-combatant? Can you Demacians live with that on your conscience?” 

“He’s killed dozens of our scouts on his quest to rescue  _ you.  _ I will sleep easy tonight knowing we have done everything to protect our kingdom from you brutes.” Whitburn says and to emphasize his point he kicks Draven in the ribs. Draven grunts in pain before laughing maniacally.  _ Of course  _ the dumbass thinks this is a funny situation to be in. 

Whitburn motions for the other fancily dressed soldier to come into the cell. “Here is how this is going to work, Noxians. I am going to ask you a question, and if I don’t get a satisfying answer,  _ this one, _ ” Whitburn grinds his boot into Draven’s face for emphasis. “May not leave this cell alive.”

Darius stares at Dravens face, blood spills from his nose and pools onto the floor. Whitburn’s cousin brandishes a sword, threateningly. Somehow Draven is  _ still  _ smiling. His eyes drift to meet Whitburn’s. His shoulders are relaxed, still sporting his smug smile. “You are going to  _ suffer _ by my hand. I will carve the skin off your ugly mug and savor your screams.” Darius’s voice is calm, unshaken. His gaze is colder than the true ice of the Freljord. “I will end your life you Demacian  _ pig _ . You hypocritical _ tyrants _ .” 

Whitburn laughs once more. “Your threats may have once held weight, but now, in your position, they are just pathetic.” He pauses, waiting to see if Darius is done. He seems to be savoring in their torment. “Now, let’s begin-”

“Sir!” A feminine voice interrupts. Neither Darius nor Whitburn had heard the soldier approach, too distracted by each other. Whitburn turns around to see a footsoldier, her eyes wide in apparent fear. She has a pretty face and a scar across her eye. Bright red hair pokes out from beneath a helmet. Darius almost does a double take when he suddenly recognizes her.  _ Katarina Du Couteau?  _

He’s thankful that Whitburn was looking at Katarina instead of Darius so he misses Darius’s look of shock. “I am busy, soldier, what could it possibly be.”

“There’s a  _ riot _ going on in the upper dungeons. The Noxians we’ve been holding on the first floor somehow got out, and they have weapons, they’re slaughtering the soldiers in their sleep-” She’s talking fast, almost stumbling over her words. She’s making herself look small, scared, like a kicked puppy. 

It’s convincing to Whitburn who turns to one of the guards. “Go handle this. NOW.” He nods, dashing out of the prison cell with half of the soldiers that had been standing around outside following with him. Only Katarina, Whitburn, the cousin, and two other grunts remain. Whitburn waits until they’re gone before he gives a mighty kick to Draven’s side. “This is your doing isn’t it? Of course it is, your capture was too easy, I should have known! How did those soldiers get out? The girl who brought you in did it, didn’t she? Where is she?” Whitburn rants as he grabs Draven by the neck before slamming him into the ground. The entire time Draven just laughs maniacally. His eyes glint with mischief as blood pools from his mouth over the cloth gag as Whitburn abuses him like an angry toddler would a toy. Whitburn drops him on the ground and turns to his cousin. “Find that girl. The one who ‘captured’ this idiot. I want her head on a spike.  _ You _ should have seen this trap coming, you’re a disgrace to our lineage for letting this happen. You want to make the Mournflame name hold as much weight as ours, then  _ prove  _ it and  _ fix  _ this mess!”

Katarina’s demeanor suddenly changes. She stops pretending to be the meek scared grunt soldier and straightens her shoulders, a smile gracing her lips as Whitburn scolds his cousin. She reaches into her boots and pulls out two daggers and charges at the two. The cousin, Mournflame, sees this and quickly dashes forward with a shield to defend Whitburn. The daggers clink off the metal and she leaps backwards gracefully. 

He doesn’t have time to counterattack as outside the cell a green blur collides with a soldier, sending him flying down the hall with a sickening grunt. It’s a soldier in Demacian garb cloaked in familiar green flames. They’re wielding a sword that collides with the second grunt’s shield, the strength of the blow cracking the metal. 

“It’s that  _ witch! _ ” Whitburn declares. He dashes forward, colliding his gauntleted fist with the soldier. 

They stumble back, their helmet flies off in the impact. Standing there, reeling from the blow, engulfed in green flames and wiping blood from her nose, is Eryn Mooreheart. Her dark curls cascade down her back as they’re freed from the helmet. Her dark brown eyes are alight with rage that Darius has never seen before in her. Her green flames flicker as the petricite banishes them for a moment, but they quickly reignite. She holds the sword at the ready. “This is your only chance to surrender. I won’t show mercy, not to you.” Just her voice tempers Darius's own rage for a moment. Seeing her there, bloodied and bruised but still standing strong reminds him of why he fights, for his family and for freedom. She embodies it. She has the heart of a Noxian truly, and he struggles once more against the manacles wishing desperately to fight by her side.

Whitburn laughs. “I already bested you once, little mage, and you don’t even have your Noxian to protect you this time.” 

She quirks an eyebrow as her flames gather in her one hand. She flicks her wrist and the flame springs from her hands between the bars of the cells, and towards Darius. Whitburn roars with anger as he slams his gauntleted fist into her, causing her to stumble back and the flames still around her to fade away, but it’s too late. The flames wash over Darius and now  _ he’s  _ the one who’s chuckling to himself. The green flames invigorate his body, and when he lurches forward against the shackles they break like they were made of wet paper. He stands, free of his chains. 

“Whitburn.” Darius calls and the Demacian looks over his shoulder at him. He can see the slight bit of panic in his eyes. Next to Darius, Draven who is also awash in green flames, flips to his feet and rips off the manacles with as much ease. Darius rolls his shoulders, listening to them crack as he puts up his fists, fire alight in his eyes. “You are going to regret opposing me.”


	17. Chapter 17

Eryn spits the blood pooling in her mouth onto the ground, wiping the stray drops off her chin as she does with a wild grin as she sees Whitburn's eyes flash with fear at the sounds of manacles snapping off the dungeon walls behind him. She hears Darius behind Whitburn chuckling with his familiar baritone voice, and that noise just makes her heart sing. She forgot how much she missed just _hearing_ his laugh. Whitburn is in a defensive stance, he's in quite the predicament being sandwiched between the brothers and herself. Darius calls Whitburn’s name, demanding his attention with a line that sends chills down her own spine, his presence exudes pure menace.

Eryn doesn't wait to let him get his bearings, once she sees both Darius and Draven standing there, tall and confident, commanding his gaze to be focused on them, she charges at Whitburn. He whips around and parries her blow like she knew he would, but with his back turned Draven is able to land a staggering blow with a sickening crack to his ribs. "You thought we were idiots huh? You underestimated  _ me _ ! Draven! And no one does that and lives!"

"Draven, less taunting, more killing!" Katarina hisses from across the cell where Mournflame is dueling with her. She lands a deep blow with her blade causing the knight to roar in pain before landing a nasty blow to her leg. She's the one howling in pain now as her leg gives out beneath her. Mournflame raises his sword to go for a strike to her neck, but it's Darius to her rescue as he collides with his full force into the Demacian. Mournflame staggers backwards, looking truly worse for wear now. "Took you long enough, your little vacation in Demacia making you slower?" She taunts him and he laughs it off, seemingly unfazed by her bitter tone. 

"Always good to see you too Kat."

"Fuck off I'm mad at you. All  _ three _ of you."

"What else is new?" Darius's voice is warm and light hearted, like they weren't fighting for their lives at this very moment. Eryn feels a pang of jealousy at the familiarity he's showing Kat, like they’re old friends, but she pushes it aside.  _ Now is not the time to be petty.  _ She reminds herself. 

Eryn surveys their surroundings. The one guard she had sent hurtling into the wall is unmoving, most likely unconscious or dead. Mournflame and Whitburn are both engaged in combat, but the other Demacian seems to have disappeared after she had gotten distracted by Whitburn. The one with the broken shield.

Draven's body collides into her as Whitburn lands a decent blow against Draven and she's sent tumbling to the floor with him. Whitburn charges at them while they're still vulnerable. Draven struggles to get to his feet to get between her and Whitburn, to try to be her human shield. Draven's too slow, too off kilter, but Darius isn't as he grabs Whitburn by his arm and flings him into the wall. Eryn's magic allows him to toss Whitburn like a ragdoll, and he gladly makes full use of that strength. 

"Any harm you bring to them I'll give back to you tenfold you Demacian pig." Darius growls, sounding almost animalistic as he brings his fists down with all of his might, aiming to crush his head beneath his fists.

Whitburn blocks with his gauntlet just in time, the petricite absorbing the magic that had surrounded Darius. Whitburn grabs Darius by his wrist and twists it sharply and Darius howls in pain. "You think you can win, you scum? You're just delaying the inevitable. And now it's not just you who's going to suffer for it, but your little magic girlfriend and your foolish brother too!" Whitburn roars as his fists batter into Darius's arms who's doing his best to block the brunt of the blows, but she can see he's starting to falter. He's been living as a prisoner for weeks now, he's not going to be in top form, and it's starting to show.

Eryn scrambles to her feet, but as she does she hears the sound of footsteps in the stairway. A  _ lot _ of footsteps are coming to the dungeon. Reinforcements. Panic fills her with each breath, like she's drowning in an ocean of it. They definitely can't handle the entire fort barreling down on them. Draven hears it too, his usual cocky expression is replaced with concern as he looks between his struggling brother and the stairway. "Hold them off!" Eryn orders as she lunges forward, not even waiting for a response from him.

Whitburn's back is to her as he lands a harsh blow to Darius's chest sending him stumbling away, and memories of the battle of Fort Ironwood flood back to her. She's low on magic, just as she was then, but even more desperate. She wraps her arms tightly around Whitburn's waist as she summons all of her magic. Her hands swathed in green flames press into his chest as she wills him to sleep.

She feels him struggle, at first in confusion and then panic as the magic takes hold of him. He grabs her arm with his petricite gauntlet and she feels her magic waiver. Desperation takes hold as she flings all of it at him, every last bit of her magic, pushing past the petricite trying to block her. It burns her being, and she screams in pain but doesn't stop until she feels his body collapse and go limp beneath her. But even then she doesn't stop, she can't. She wants to make sure he never wakes up, he never harms her or Darius or  _ anyone  _ again. 

"Eryn!"

She hears the voice, she thinks it's Draven's, but she can't stop. Her vision has gone black but she still feels his life force flickering under her hands. She needs to snuff it out. She can't stop. He  _ needs  _ to die. She hears screaming and she isn’t sure if it’s herself or Whitburn beneath her.

"Eryn we need to go!"

She ignores the voice, digging her fingers into Whitburn’s skin as her arms burn from her own magic. 

"Eryn I  _ need _ you to come back to me." Suddenly she's enveloped in something warm and her body is lifted into the air. Her eyes snap back into focus to see Darius cradling her. His face is smeared with blood and his eyes are full of fear. She's never seen him afraid before, she realizes.

"We gotta get to those tunnels, those soldiers are going to be through my shitty blockade any second! Eryn where do we go? You gotta tell us where to go right now!" It's Draven's voice now that rings through the dungeon.

"Hall. Left." She croaks before devolving into a coughing fit. What did she do to herself? Out of the corner of her eye she sees what she thinks is Whitburn's body, but the skin has turned black and has the texture of a rotten fruit. Her stomach churns. Did  _ she  _ do that?

The rest is a blur for Eryn as she fights to remain conscious. Darius cradles her against his chest as they dash through the hallways. Draven supports a limping Katarina on his shoulder as they go. Torches whiz by them as they move swiftly through the halls. She keeps her eyes on Darius's face as they move, how tightly his jaw is clenched and how he steals worried glances down to her in his arms. She must look like a mess because every time he does she can see a pained expression plastered across his face.

They reach a dead end and Draven starts swearing profusely, the Demacian soldiers are right on their heels. "Mooreheart, how's this thing open? What magic word we gotta say?"

"Hand." Eryn’s voice sounds like a grindstone as she struggles to even get a word out. She holds out her hand and that's when she sees her arms. She understands why Darius has been reacting so viscerally, her skin is so burnt it looks like she had dunked them into a molten forge. The flesh is marred deeply, singed a deep red, and green sparks flicker off them like a smoldering campfire. 

Draven just repeats after Eryn like it really is some kind of magic word and Katarina snaps at him. "You idiot, she means put  _ her _ hand to the  _ wall." _

Darius is already on it, gently bringing Eryn close enough for her to place her hand against the stone. It lights up in green flames just like before, and she sees him flinch backwards momentarily as the wall turns to ash. The four of them enter the hallway, the bricks reforming behind them just as the Demacian soldiers round the corner to see them slip from their grasp. Eryn sighs in relief, the worst of it having come to pass.

She rests her face against Darius's chest, allowing a heavy blanket of exhaustion to settle over her. "Eryn I need you to stay awake." His voice is stern, like he's her commander giving her an order.

"Make me." Her voice is hoarse as she attempts to tease him. 

He chuckles and the way it rumbles through her entire body causes a grin to splay across her face. "Already being insubordinate. You're going to be a problematic Noxian." He lifts her higher to press his lips to her forehead, she can feel him smiling as he does. 

She can hear Draven and Katarina say something witty, teasing him somehow, but at this point she's too tired to make it out. Her consciousness slips away but as it does, she notes how much she likes being called a Noxian, something that would have felt like an insult just mere months ago feels like a compliment. Like acceptance. Like she _finally_ belongs somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're in the home stretch now which is absolutely wild. I've loved every moment of writing this fic so far and it's crazy how much support it's gotten! The next few chapters are actually pretty much done so they'll be coming out pretty rapidly, all probably done by the end of this week so stay tuned! They just need some editing mostly. Hope you enjoy the incoming finale!


	18. Chapter 18

Eryn awakens to feeling like she’s on fire. Her eyes fling open and pain overwhelms her. Her body feels like it’s made of lead, and her arms feel like someone is scraping them with hot coals. She attempts to sit up but her core hurts too much and she just flops back into the blankets. She manages to lift her arms up to see they’re wrapped in bandages. Clean ones at that. She tests moving her fingers, wincing in pain as she does, and is happy to see everything is still moveable, before sighing and placing them gently at her side. 

She takes in her surroundings. She’s in a tent that much is clear, and it seems like it’s daytime as there’s sunlight filtering through a small crack in the tent. Just outside she can hear voices, talking somewhat loudly, and recognizes them as Darius and Katarina.

“I’ll make sure he holds up his end of the deal. Sorry that he did that.”

“Mm. I probably woulda done the same to you if I’m honest. No hard feelings.”

Darius chuckles. “Jericho always says you and I are too alike. Seems now even our taste in partners match.”

Katarina laughs but it sounds somewhat pained. “Yeah. She reminds me of her too ya know. They’re both annoying bratty mages.”

“Is that why Draven says you were trying to scare her off?”

“I was _ not _ .”

“Did you not tell her you would be happy to see all of our heads on spikes?”

“I mean, at the time that was just the truth.”

“Kat.”

“What? Your brother was blackmailing me! Of course I was angry!”

“ _ Kat.” _

She groans. “What do you want me to say? That I’m pissed at more than just the blackmail thing? Because I am! I was packing to head to the Demacian capital for my own mission, to finally get to see her and make sure she’s fine during this whole mage rebellion thing, only to get pulled aside by your brother and told ‘nah you gotta help me find my dumbass brother who got himself captured by Demacians. Or else everyone’s gonna know you’re fucking a Crownguard.’ And  _ then  _ the first lead we have just so happens to be a little  _ Demacian mage _ who’s smitten for you and oh so happy to join Noxus. A girl you’ve known for weeks is ready to fight for us when the girl I’ve known for  _ years  _ still is insistent on siding with our enemies. Wouldn’t you be  _ a little _ pissed?”

Something feels raw in Katarina’s voice, as if Darius had been poking at a wound that just refuses to heal. Silence falls over the campsite as neither seem to know what to say. “I’m sorry.” Darius finally musters and Katarina scoffs.

“That’s all you got?”

“Well my only advice for you is to maybe try getting captured by her and her brother.” 

“Oh  _ fuck off  _ Darius.” Her laugh betrays her amusement and then they’re both chuckling. 

Eryn feels awkward just lying there listening to the two have a genuine moment. She feels trapped in the tent, barely able to muster the strength to move her fingers. The laughter dies down and she hears one of them shift and walk towards the tent. “I’m going to check her bandages.” It’s Darius’s voice getting closer to her.

"Draven checked them before he left to go hunting." Katarina calls after him.

"I know I know. Just double checking." Darius brushes her off and the flap to the tent opens. Light rims his bulky form like a halo as he steps in. She attempts to sit up again, excited to see him, and winces in pain. He's at her side in a moment, supporting her with his own form. "You're awake." He has a soft smile as he supports her back with his hand, letting her lean on him to sit up. He runs his other calloused hands along her jaw, almost like he can't believe it himself.

She hums, pleased with his presence pressing against her side. She wants to mimic the gesture, to run her fingers down his face, but her arms still are burning. Instead she lets him press their foreheads together and closes her eyes, just enjoying the moment of peace. "How long have I been out?" She asks and her voice sounds strange to her ear, hoarse from disuse. 

"Almost three days." He murmurs. "You scared me."

She remembers the fear she saw in him when he was holding her in the dungeon. "What happened exactly?" 

"What do you remember?"

"Grabbing Whitburn. Wanting him to die. Pain. You looking at me with fear." Her voice is cracking as she talks, and she can't tell if it's from the disuse or from her own anxiety.

He sighs deeply. His fingers idly trace patterns along her back. "At first it was fine, he was going down. Like you did to me when we met. But then you started screaming… it looked like he was decomposing underneath you. And your arms were just  _ burning...  _ Eryn I thought you were going to kill yourself." He's trying to hide it but his voice is straining, like the image of it pains him. 

She breathes deeply. "I've never done that before. Usually even taking enough of someone's life force to knock them out will make  _ me  _ pass out. But I just… I  _ hated _ him. I  _ hated _ that he was a mageseeker. I  _ hated _ that I was too weak to stop him from taking you." Her teeth are gritted as her chest bubbles with pure rage. Darius senses it and gently takes her hand in his and interlocks their fingers together. The feeling hurts but she doesn't care. She just wants to  _ feel _ him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I couldn't control it. Becoming the monster mage seekers warn about, the uncontrollable magical  _ murderers _ , that’s the last thing I ever want to be."

He pauses, thinking over his next words carefully. His dark brown eyes focused on her own as he breathes deeply before speaking. "I took that deal with him so I wouldn't have to watch you die. I've seen too many people I care about killed in front of me, and I've been helpless to stop it." She can feel his hand that's supporting her back grip onto her tightly, like she could vanish at any moment if he let's go of her. "Eryn, your magic doesn't scare me. Watching you die in my arms, like Quil did, _ that's _ what scared me."

Eryn leans into him. "I'll try not to do that again then. As long as you don't  _ ever _ leave me like that again. I didn't even have time to tell you my choice."

"Well, you still can."

"Is it not obvious at this point?"

"It is, but I'd like to hear you say it." 

She laughs as she looks up at him. "I want to fight for you. For freedom. For Noxus."

He smiles and presses their lips together for a gentle kiss. He works his hands through her hair as she leans back into him, warmth blossoming in her chest as they’re  _ finally _ together again. 

"Oy where's Darius? I wanna show him this big deer I killed, we're eating good tonight!" Draven's voice interrupts the calmness of the moment. It seems he's returned from his hunting expedition. Darius and Eryn both burst out in laughter, pulling away from each other and breaking the kiss as they do.

"Either he's lost his mind and he's been having a conversation with himself for the past 10 minutes, or Eryn's awake. I like to think the former, it's funnier." Katarina responds and Eryn's face flushes red with embarrassment. She had forgotten she was sitting outside.

Darius just laughs and stands up, scooping Eryn into his arms as he does. She makes a startled noise, not expecting the sudden motion as he carries her out of the tent into the afternoon light. Draven sure enough has a corpse of a large doe on his shoulders and is smiling triumphantly at the two of them. "Kat, don't go starting rumors." Darius warns as he steps out into the afternoon light.

"Me? Never." She's smiling wolfishly as she stokes their campfire. 

"You used to tell girls at bars that I eat the guts of the people I killed in the arena!" Draven protests as he begins skinning the deer. Darius sits Eryn down on a log and she's finally starting to feel strong enough to sit up on her own. It's painful but she pushes past it, just happy to be able to sit with the three of them. Her stomach is growling, having not eaten in apparently three days.

"I was doing those women a favor. Besides if that's enough to spook them then they couldn't handle your ass anyway." Katarina says with a snicker. The mood is infectious. All of them are laughing, even Draven as he trades insults with Katarina. It's not like when she had first met them, where it was hostile. Now there's a familial rapport between the three and Eryn feels like for the first time in months she could relax. Darius sits beside her, an arm wrapped around her hip as the four swap tales over dinner. 

Night falls and there's a lull in conversation. Katarina takes a swig from a flask before breaking the silence. "So what are you going to tell Jericho? And all of Noxus for that matter." She asks and the jovial tone is snuffed out. 

Darius pauses, and Eryn can feel him tense at her side. "I can't hide anything from Jericho. But as for everyone else, we'll say it was all a planned excursion to execute a powerful Demacian tyrant and weaken their defenses." His gaze is cold now, calculating. "I trust you can keep to that story."

"And her?" Katarina nods at Eryn. "She's going to need to prove herself if you don't want a target painted on her back. They'll see her as a weakness to you."

Eryn holds her head high and meets Katarina's gaze. Her expression is hard to read as they stare each other down. She's analyzing her, judging her on her response. "Whatever Noxus throws at me, I can handle it." 

Katarina grins and it's predatory. "I guess we'll see about that won't we."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the epilogue, and it's got smut near the end ;) hope y'all enjoy!


	19. Epilogue

It’s been three months since Darius’s grand return to the Noxian army. Draven had made sure that there would be much drinking and celebrating amongst the Noxians before he and Katarina made their leave. Draven demanded that Eryn and Darius return to Noxus Prime soon, so he could show her around the capital, before beginning his trek back home. Katarina said her goodbyes quietly, not announcing where she was going, but Darius informed her she had a mission in Demacia’s capital city that she had to go complete. 

Darius quickly took back command from the standing commander, and within weeks they had stormed Whitburn’s Keep and took it with ease. The soldiers seemed to buy into the idea that it had been a planned infiltration, especially with how quickly the keep fell without their leader’s command. It seems most of the defending soldiers had retreated as well after the death of their commander, making their defenses fall like children’s building blocks. But after that the Demacians turned offensive with reinforcements from their capital finally arriving, and the Noxians had to bunker down in Whitburn’s keep to hold onto their newfound territory. 

Eryn had spent the time working in the medic tent. Her arms were still recovering from what the healers said was "an overexertion of her magic." That when she had run out of mana, to continue casting her magic it needed to feed on something else to fuel itself, in this case her own flesh. So she had been relegated to the med tent, mostly changing bed pans as her mana was taking an extended amount of time to replenish itself. The medics spent a lot of time teaching her practical medicine, which she appreciated, it kept her busy and improving, but every day she worried about Darius on the frontlines. Soldiers always said the med tent was the worst place to be, filled with the stench of death and the anguished screams of the dying, but truly the worst part about it was the lack of information. Not knowing if they were winning the battles until the day was over.

But the days always ended with Darius arriving at the med tent for a “checkup” despite not even having any major injuries. The medics quickly learned that he wasn’t here for them, but for Eryn, and would send her over to tend to him. She’d give him a quick examination before scolding him for any minor scrape he’s sporting, and then she’d be whisked away for the night back to his quarters. He had taken up residence in what had once been Whitburn’s room, a large master bedroom at the highest level of the keep.

Rumors spread quickly about her identity. Where had she come from? Why had Darius returned with her and granted her access to his private quarters? Some romanticized her, as a powerful mage on par with Noxian Elite, and that she had been the mastermind behind the infiltration. Others deemed her a common Demacian whore. She isn’t stupid, she heard the things they say about her in hushed whispers as she walked from Darius’s quarters to the med tent in the courtyard each morning. They never said those things when she’s at Darius’s side though, fearing retribution if the Hand of Noxus caught wind of the rumors. She knew though that it’s nothing he can solve for her, this was her battle. _She_ had to be the one to earn their respect.

Eryn found it strange each day to walk the halls of the keep that had once belonged to her ancestors. She supposed she should feel some attachment to it, some joy that her family’s possessions were finally in some strange way returned to their owner. She wondered solemnly, as she lied beside Darius one night, if her father would be proud or disappointed. She never dwelled on that thought for too long, it's too hard to with Darius’s arms holding her in his sleep and pressing her closely to his chest.

After nearly three months in the keep, the Demacians aren’t making any successful advancements on the keep, but aren’t able to be driven back by the Noxians. It’s a stalemate, so much so that Eryn feels herself falling into a comfortable rhythm of day to day routines. But as soon as she’s getting used to life in the med tent, Darius barges in midday to pull her aside. He always seems to be doing that, tearing down any sense of normalcy she begins to build. Not that she minds. That’s what's so thrilling about being with him.

“Jericho wants me to return to Noxus Prime. It’s urgent apparently.” He says to her quietly. 

“We’re retreating?” Eryn asks, looking at him quizzically.

“I don’t retreat.” Darius says and she has to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She should have seen that line coming from him.

“Then what’s happening?”

He breathes deeply. “Reallocating resources. Shurima is mobilizing with the return of their emperor, and Jericho doesn’t want to lose our foothold on the continent.”

“And our foothold here?”

“We can’t spread ourselves too thin. And I have probably been outvoted by _both_ of them if I’m being ordered to return. I’m just going to have to trust in his vision.” She knows that by _both_ he’s referring to the Faceless Lady, the third member of the Trifarix. She’s been able to suss from his tone over the past few months that he doesn’t trust her, well... trusts her a lot less than Swain at least. “I’m leaving Farron here to defend unless it becomes impossible to hold. I’ll command from afar, Jericho needs me back in the capital. We leave at dawn. Quietly.”

* * *

Eryn can feel her legs shaking with anxiety and a lump forming in her throat as she steps onto the wooden stepping block placed in front of her. It creaks under her weight as she does which doesn't help with her nervousness. It only gives her about a foot of extra height but it’s not the step itself that bothers her, it’s the purpose of it.

Darius is at her side with a teasing smile. He's wearing simple traveling clothes with a red cloak fluttering gently in the wind. He's standing on the ground beside the wooden block, so for once she's looking down at him. She presses a shaky hand onto his shoulder to balance herself as a strong breeze runs through the grassy paddock they've found themselves in. "I don't think I've ever seen you so nervous." 

Her face flushes bright red and she's about to reply with a witty retort, but bites her tongue as the stable boy finally arrives with a horse in tow. He's leading a chestnut stallion with a lean build and long reddish mane. It's lazily following the stable boy as he leads it over to the mounting block Eryn is standing atop of. Darius chuckles at her expression. "What?” She asks, her voice cracking, which only causes him to laugh louder. “Don't laugh at me! I'm regretting pulling you out of that Demacian dungeon more and more by the day." 

"The _farmer_ girl can stand up to The Hand of Noxus but is scared of a horse."

"We were never wealthy enough for one! We just had goats and an ox to pull our carts."

"How is a horse scarier than an ox?" His eyebrows are quirked as the stable boy parks the horse right before them in front of the mounting block. Darius gently pats the stallion’s neck as he takes the reins from the stable boy.

Eryn rolls her eyes like the answer is obvious. "You don't have to _ride_ the ox!" Even atop the mounting block the horse’s back seems so _tall_ before her.

“Yes, but you’ve ridden something much more dangerous than an ox.” He lowers his voice so the stable boy doesn’t hear, and her entire face turns a deep scarlet as he takes on a sultry tone. While she’s off guard Darius takes the opportunity to lift her by her waist from the block and plops her into the saddle. She yelps in protest but doesn’t resist as she settles into the seat. He adjusts the stirrups for her to fit her height while she clings to the horn of the saddle. The horse shifts from foot to foot while it waits for them to finish tacking up and Eryn feels her entire stomach flip upside down. “See? Not so bad.”

She’s staring down the neck of the horse, watching how its ears flick backwards, almost like it’s listening to their conversation. “I still feel like walking to Noxus Prime is a better idea.” She mumbles as the stable boy makes his way back to the barn to fetch Darius’s horse for him.

“You’ll pick up on it easily. Here,” He hands her the reins, “have him walk on.” He gestures with his arm for her to walk forward. “Squeeze his flank with your calves.” Her legs thump at the horse’s side and it takes a measly step forward. “ _Squeeze_ , not tap. And keep your eyes up and where you want to go. If you’re staring at the ground you’re more likely to end up there.” She gulps and sticks her chin up high and gives another squeeze. 

The horse is walking now, its body rocks from side to side beneath her and she finds she has to hold on just to keep herself from sliding off. Darius walks beside her, reaching up to help correct positioning and giving her small directions when needed. But eventually he stops walking beside her and lets her walk on her own, and she slowly guides the horse to walk in a small circle around the paddock. “See it’s just like in life. Keeping your chin held high and eyes focused on the future is the key to success.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well Darius, if this whole Hand of Noxus thing doesn’t work out I can see a future for you as an old stable hand bestowing life lessons upon the youth.”

“I could always leave you with no lessons and let you figure how to control the wild beast on your own.” Darius taunts, smiling wide when the horse rips the reins from her hands in order to lean down and bite at an itch on his leg. She lurches forward with a surprised squeak.

“ _Darius!”_ Eryn cries out as she struggles to get the horse to pick his head back up. She yanks on the reins but he seems to ignore her.

“Oh, so _now_ you want my advice?” He has a bemused smirk painted across his face as he watches. Finally the horse lifts its head back up, but it seems less to do with finally listening to Eryn and more that it finally scratched the itch that was bothering it.

The stable boy returns now leading a much larger horse with a dark brown coat and black mane and tail. It clops excitedly beside the stablehand, its hooves that are larger than dinner plates thud loudly against the ground. Darius doesn’t seem fazed by the large excitable creature, and Eryn sends a silent thanks to the gods that her horse is at least _not_ that one. When the horse reaches Darius he mirrors the affectionate pat he had given her stallion. He then places one foot in the stirrup and mounts the horse in one swift motion, swinging his body atop the beast with grace. The horse stirs beneath his weight as he gathers the reins in one hand. His red cape flutters behind him before settling to rest on the horse’s flank. 

As he’s settling into the saddle she can’t help but admire him. His muscular frame, his commanding presence, how the early morning sun halos his silhouette. He catches her staring and smiles back at her and her heart flutters in her chest. “Well I suppose the only good thing to come out of this horrible horse riding idea is that I get to see you look quite dashing. Like a knight from my storybooks.”

He laughs as he commands his horse to trot up beside her. Her time being a head taller than him was short lived, as _both_ him and his horse tower over her. “If you think this is still a horrible decision by the time we reach Kilgrove, we can sell the horses and go the rest of the way on foot. Deal?” She nods. “Good. Just let your horse follow mine, they’re herd animals. They want to stick together. They know that in unity there is strength.” He says the last line knowing it would provoke a groan from Eryn.

“I am taking back my compliment. You are not dashing, you are haughty and insufferable.” She whines. He urges his horse onwards into a slow trot and Eryn yelps as her own follows, trotting to keep beside Darius’s mare. She clenches with her thighs to keep herself from bouncing out of the saddle. “Are we in Kilgrove yet?” 

* * *

They leave the Demacian countryside, and by horseback Eryn has to admit that it’s much faster. Simply because they aren’t the ones lugging their equipment. Her body aches at night from muscles she didn’t know could ache, but ultimately she doesn’t _hate_ it. She enjoys how the wind whips at her hair when they canter along the winding Noxian roads. She appreciates having Darius take time to give her lessons as they travel and how he praises her slow improvements. And she adores how her horse who she’s dubbed Red likes scratches on his chest after each day of work, and how he snuggles his head into her arms as they camp at night demanding her attention. By the time they reach Kilgrove, the halfway mark from the Gates of Mourning and Noxus Prime, she’s fine with the horses. 

They arrive in Kilgrove as the sun is setting and Darius pays for a room at the inn and stable room for their horses. After weeks on the road Eryn is more than excited to be sleeping in an actual bed. She collapses into the mattress the moment the moment she steps foot into their room. Darius simply chuckles lowly as he places their bags on the floor. “So are we selling-”

“Red is never leaving my side.” She interrupts, her voice muffled by the pillows she’s buried her face in. She feels the bed dip as he sits next to her. “I’d sell you sooner than him.”

“I cannot tell if that’s an insult to me or very high praise to the horse.” He states and she hears him slowly undressing, kicking his boots off and tossing his shirt to the floor into a pile. “What does it take to be valued as highly as Red, the horse you hated nearly 2 weeks ago.”

“Maybe if you were as kind as him when I ride you.” She peeks out from the pillows with a wolfish grin on her face.

“I am _very_ kind to you despite your continued ungratefulness.” The bed shifts again from his weight as suddenly he’s over top of her. He buries his face into the crook of her neck, planting kisses along her skin.

She rolls onto her back, guiding his face to hers so they’re kissing. Her hands trail down his back, taking in every curve of every muscle as his tongue dives into her mouth. He tastes of metal, like copper and steel, something that’s grown familiar to her now as they’ve spent many a night together like this. His own hands roam across her body, slowly pushing the fabric covering her skin off her body. It’s not long before her shirt joins the growing pile of clothes on the floor, as he pulls it up over her head between kisses. 

One of Darius’s hands begins travelling south, and she runs her fingers through his raven locks of hair. He slips one hand into her trousers and gets to work massaging her clit, while his other hand rolls over her breasts. She gasps into his mouth as he tweaks her nipple, pleasure blossoming in her groin. He hums in approval as she squirms beneath him, rolling her hips into his hand trying to attract more friction.

He breaks the kiss, and Eryn makes a disgruntled sound as he sits up and pulls away. He chuckles, his half lidded eyes are alight with amusement as he slowly slips out of his trousers. “You _still_ haven’t learned any patience have you?”

“It’s really not my fault, after the first time we did this you got yourself captured for almost a week. I never know if this is going to be the last time!” She protests, slipping out of her own pants and flinging them to the floor.

“Maybe you should think about that _before_ valuing your horse over me...”

“I was _joking!_ ” She laughs and he pulls her into his lap. She straddles him, feeling his hard member pressed between their bodies as she presses kisses along his sharp jawline. The proximity has her _dripping._ “What do I need to do to earn your forgiveness, oh great Hand of Noxus?” She asks jokingly as she grinds against him.

He makes a pleased sound at the motion. “Why don’t you show me if those riding lessons are actually paying off then?” He proposes and she laughs incredulously at the joke, rolling her eyes but still more than eager to oblige the request. 

She places her hands on his shoulders and lightly guides him to lying flat against the mattress. He watches her hungrily, his hands resting on the gentle curves of her hips, as she positions herself above his member. The tip pokes at her entrance, and it takes all of her self restraint to go slowly, savoring the feeling of him entering her. He inhales sharply, his head leaning back into the pillows as she lowers herself. She bites her lip in pain and pleasure as his length spreads her, and she can’t help but gasp when their hips meet again. She holds there, letting herself adjust to his size, before pushing herself up with her knees and then immediately slamming their hips together again. 

Eryn sets a fast rhythm, leaning on his chest with her hands to keep herself propped up as she bounces herself up and down with her legs. Eryn watches him as his eyes are screwed shut in pleasure and with every slap of their hips together he lets out a soft moan. She loves how vulnerable he looks like this, quivering beneath her as she works herself up and down his length. His fingers dig into her hips as they follow the motion of her bouncing.

One particular thrust has her seeing stars as she presses deep into him, his dick digging _right_ into her g-spot. She moans loudly, as she shakily lifts herself back up and slams immediately back into it. Her legs tremble, threatening to completely give out beneath her.

Darius is the one to lose patience now, as he hooks one arm around her back and flips their positioning, pressing her back into the bed and locks their lips together. Her legs wrap tightly around his hips as he takes control and he thrusts into her deeply. She moans into his mouth as each plunge hits her just right, and she can feel herself getting close.

Darius must be too, as his pace quickly becomes erratic, desperate to release the pleasure building in him. He breaks their kiss, letting his lips trail down her neck as Eryn’s moans turn into cries. Soon she’s calling his name, begging for him, and that sends him over the edge. With one final thrust he spills into her, and she digs her nails into his back as her orgasm follows suit. 

Darius collapses beside her, pulling her close to his chest and tucking her head under his chin. Her back is pressed tight to his chest as she breathes deeply, coming down from the high of her orgasm. His hand traces her curves, starting from her shoulder and down her arms. He pauses when he reaches her forearms, they’re still scarred from the events at Whitburn’s keep. The flesh is still warped and singed a deep red. “Does it still hurt here?” He asks as his calloused hands run over the marred skin. 

She shakes her head. “When I use magic it stings a bit still is all.” His hand continues, finding her own and entangling their fingers together. 

“That’s good. I want you fighting at my side again if you’re recovered enough. Maybe we should work on your swordplay too… for whenever you’re low on mana…” He seems to be mostly talking to himself now, going over training regimens in his head as his thumb rolls over her skin.

“What about _mounted_ combat hm?” She asks teasingly, provoking a chuckle that rumbles in his chest against her back. 

“I believe your riding has definitely improved enough that we can consider that an option as well.” He replies, his voice taking a teasing tone to it as well and she laughs. Comfortable silence settles over them, and she can feel his breathing slow as he begins to drift off to sleep.

But the idea of training alongside him sparks thoughts of the future, of Noxus’s capital. Something that once filled her with dread at the mere mention of it now fills her with excitement for her future. She feels abuzz with energy still as her mind races, they're so close to getting there, to seeing her new future. “What is Noxus Prime like?” She asks.

He breathes deeply, clearly he had been on the verge of falling asleep. “I’ve told you so much of it already, do your interrogations ever end?” His tone isn't annoyed, even though she knows if she had been anyone else he would be. 

“I want to hear more.”

He hums, pressing his lips to the top of her head. “You’ll just have to wait to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first fanfic I've actually held enough interest in to see through to the end. I loved writing this self indulgent little passion project, and it's been the best feeling in the world to have so many people along for the ride with me!
> 
> I'm going to take a little break from writing about these two specifically, but I'm definitely planning on making this into a series with a sequel taking place in the capital. But, before that I have a few other fics planned, including a Draven x Sona college AU fic that I'm really excited about.
> 
> Thanks so much again for all the support. If y'all want updates on new fics as soon as I post, or just wanna chat and see the occasional pic of my cat, y'all can follow me on twitter at https://twitter.com/GoblinBridge 
> 
> Love all of you! See you next time!


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